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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (622782)	8/4/2011 11:40:57 AM
From: i-node	Respond to of 1579777

In many countries (collectively representing a majority of the world's proven oil reserves) the oil companies where nationalized. In countries where they where not, like in the US, you have had corporate income tax on the oil companies, "windfall profits tax", the costs of oil leases (since the government controls much of the territory in the US and won't sell it), taxes on refined products, and other more minor source of income (misc. fees and fines, and such). Right. The point is, when it is reported "Exxon made billions in the US and paid only 17%", there is a lot more to the story. It isn't a "loophole". It is how it has to work given the high levels of taxation in the places where oil is. If the US simply says, "We're talking 45% of your US profits" it would present a dilemma. Do we tax oil companies in a radically different manner from that in which we tax other companies? If so, capital is going to flow toward those companies that are taxed more favorably, and the consumer is going to suffer with increased prices at the pump. A basic premise of taxation is that it be fair to the taxpayer. There is nothing fair about singling out the oil industry for treatment that is different from other industries, solely because they make a lot of money. When someone, such as Al, talks about oil companies needing to pay their "fair share", the statement is borne of ignorance. These companies certainly pay their fair shares. The question is to whom is that money paid. If one wants to debate whether the US gets its fair share, that's a different point altogether -- and it frankly, it isn't Exxon's problem nor should it be. This is a question of global economics, not one of tax policy. If the US restructured its tax code to tax only on US income at US rates, it would open the door to a much more serious problem than we now face -- one of dealing not only with taxation, but where things begin to look a bit like trade protectionism with all its attendant problems.