Toot UncommonMay 10, 2023
Bob Wyman

CBO just published: *Trends in Corporate Economic Profits and Tax Payments, 1998 to 2017* which clearly shows that corporate profits have been rising while corporate tax payments have remained flat.

Taxes should rise as profits rise. If we have evidence that that is not the case, then we have clear evidence that our system needs to be altered.

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59149

Trends in Corporate Economic Profits and Tax Payments, 1998 to 2017

At a Glance Over recent decades, the economic profits of corporations (that is, profits from current production) have grown in relation to the size of the economy, whereas the amounts that corporations pay in federal taxes have remained stable. That pattern, which cannot be explained by changes in federal statutory corporate tax rates, reflects a divergence between economic profits and the corporate tax base (income that is subject to the corporate tax).

Congressional Budget Office
May 9, 2023 at 8:10pmElk
Show threadBob WymanMay 9, 2023

As I've often said before, I believe that corporate taxes should be indexed to corporate profits and should rise progressively as profits exceed some "normal" expected level.

Two corporations, both earning the same taxable income, should not pay the same tax if one earns a 5% return in a competitive market while the other enjoys a 30% return in a less competitive market.

Show threadSteve Randy WaldmanMay 9, 2023
@bobwyman tax excess margins! https://www.interfluidity.com/v2/9416.html
interfluidity » Tax excess margins