Saturday, December 16, 2017

GOP Tax scam, not about Conservative Values, just greed.

So the final version of the GOP Tax bill is out.
I haven't been able to find the full text online yet but have read the House and Senate versions going into this plan.
Senate Taxplan 515 pages!
House Bill 429 pages
House Summary and breakdowns


You have probably heard the talking points already, it raises the deficit, does very little for wage and job growth while granting huge boost to the super rich and corporations, hurts teachers and firefighters, will prompt millions to lose their insurance and raises everyone else premiums, close many hospitals, increase the national debt, and even how the individual tax cuts are only short term while corporate tax cuts are permanent.
They put the lie to the test when they said this was about reform and closing loopholes.  You did not need a 500 page bill if you got rid of all (or even most) of the loopholes.

Further, this bill punishes individual tax payers in a lot of hidden in the dirt pile ways.
  • Repeal of Casualty loss:  You wont notice this until your hurting but this repeals a deduction if you suffer a major loss such as your house burning down, flood damage, earth quake, tornado or even theft. That deduction enabled you to rebuild and get back on your feet faster, However they repealed it, except for Hurricanes.  Wonder why Republicans decided to repeal it for earthquakes but leave it for hurricanes? However, everyone is at risk for these things.
  • Territorial Tax:Most countries use this system which means your not taxed on income made overseas. We tax our corporations on that money when they bring it back to the U.S. Personally I am ok with going to a territorial system to help our companies be more competitive and avoid offshore tax havens.  However lets not take on more national debt or lose jobs to do it.
  • Chained CPI: This little gimmick will keep the standard deduction from keeping up with inflation. So as inflation goes up or taxes go up faster!
  • Repealing the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax: Corporations already pay an average of 18% tax even though we have a top rate of 35%.  Removing the minimum tax means many larger corporations will be able to avoid paying any taxes at all!  Meanwhile smaller businesses will pay the bulk of corporate tax.  How fair is that?
  • Repeal of Deduction for Income Attributable to Domestic Activities: Currently companies are allowed to deduct up to 9% (6% for oil and gas companies) for costs related to making and selling stuff in the US.  Getting rid of this will just incentivize them to move those operations overseas.  More job loss.
This bill does nothing to encourage companies to increase wages or hire more workers. Companies are already sitting on tons of cash and have access to low interest rates.  Instead of job growth we see mergers and stock buybacks. The only way to boost the economy is to increase consumer demand.

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