[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by BigV

Here's how it's a freebie.

I (not a corporation) have a pool of money that has NOT been taxed by the government, it's called my 401k account. Shielding that money from taxes was done legally. I can't access that money to do things like pay my mortgage, or create jobs, or buy food or whatever. I want that money now though, and if I access it, I will have to pay taxes on it as regular income (at more than 5.25%).

A corporation (not me) has a pool of money that has NOT been taxed by the government, it's called their offshore profits. Shielding that money from taxes was done legally. It can't access that money to do things like buy outstanding shares of stock, or create jobs, or pay executive bonuses or whatever. It wants that money now though, and to access it, it will have to pay taxes on it as regular profit (at more than 5.25%).

A tax holiday is just a giveaway of revenue that was due to the government (yes, due) at the time it was moved. The move did two things, avoid taxes and lock up the money. Locked up money is not very useful, not useLESS, just of limited use. For example, it can't be spent. And that's the main function of money, to be spent. Now, to spend this money, it has to "re-enter" our system. We already have rules for that, why do we, "the people", need a new rule? I can see why we, "the corporation", or we, "the 401k holder", would want a new rule, because we don't like the "cost" of the current rule. But those "costs" (penalties, taxes due, etc) were already known by the corporations and people that moved the money "out" of the system in the first place. Now we need a ... a... do-over? Cause, waaah, I changed my mind, I don't like the deal I accepted in the first place. *Sigh*.

We have a system for establishing and changing our rules, our laws. That system is in play now with lobbying efforts like the letter from the US Chamber of Commerce to the Congress. I just don't agree with their point that they need relief. I've looked at "the numbers" and I don't see how they're suffering, despite the enormous tide of propaganda to the contrary.

I don't think a tax holiday is needed for the corporations to continue to prosper. If they want that money, let them repatriate it through the already functioning system we already have in place.

You fail to recognize that our tax on the corps is among the highest in the world and there is no incentive for them to stay here. Many have left, many are leaving. Ireland has become the new corp tax haven. If they leave they leave with what little we get. The money parked offshore was done through legal means. I understand all that. You think we should make them bring it back and they should give our broken system of government more money to waste, I am not so sure about that. I think it has less to do with suffering of the corps and more to do with the normal process of generating money, which is what all businesses do, it is why they exist. Governments want to tax corps, corps try to figure out ways to shelter it. Until our tax system is completely overhauled and the laws changed, that money is not coming back.