Attention Economy


Sunday, June 13, 2021

America's Broken Tax System

Private Inequity: How a Powerful Industry Conquered the Tax System
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/business/private-equity-taxes.html

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
Wealthiest Executives Paid Little to Nothing in Federal Income Taxes, Report Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/us/politics/income-taxes-bezos-musk-buffett.html
Paul Krugman on attempts to impose a global minimum corporate tax on MNCs:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/opinion/yellens-new-alliance-against-leprechauns.html
To put this in a broader context, what we’re looking at here is the beginning of an attempt to fix a system that is rigged against workers in favor of capital. Workers have few ways to avoid income taxes, payroll taxes and sales taxes besides actually moving to another country. Multinational corporations, which are ultimately owned in large part by a small wealthy minority, can shop for low-tax jurisdictions without doing anything real besides hiring some skilled accountants. The G7 plan would curb that practice. 

Related:
The richest 1 percent dodge taxes on more than one-fifth of their income, study shows.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/26/wealthy-tax-evasion/
High-Income Tax Avoidance Far Larger Than Thought, New Paper Estimates