Taxes will continue to be a big issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Neither major candidate has been wholly truthful about the other's general tax policy. Republican John McCain says Democrat Barack Obama will raise your taxes. Actually, Obama's tax plan would lower federal income taxes paid by most Americans, and raise them for corporations and individuals with higher incomes.
Obama, meanwhile, says McCain would give tax breaks to big oil - which is sort of true. McCain is proposing reducing the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Big oil companies would be included, but so would a wide array of others.
But what neither candidate has said much about - certainly not McCain - is that most U.S. corporations are not paying anywhere close to the current tax rate. In fact, a study expected to be released today by Congress shows that many of them are not paying any federal income tax at all.
A Government Accountability Office study shows that two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, and about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period. (Of course, the government report did not name names.)
It would be nice if, the next time John McCain talks about lowering the corporate tax rate to spur investment in new jobs, he would answer how that's going to work when most big companies aren't paying anything already. And it would be nice if the next time Barack Obama talks about closing the tax loopholes companies currently are leaping through, he would be asked to explain specifically how he would do so ... and how he would convince Congress to join that effort.
Neither major candidate has been wholly truthful about the other's general tax policy. Republican John McCain says Democrat Barack Obama will raise your taxes. Actually, Obama's tax plan would lower federal income taxes paid by most Americans, and raise them for corporations and individuals with higher incomes.
Obama, meanwhile, says McCain would give tax breaks to big oil - which is sort of true. McCain is proposing reducing the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Big oil companies would be included, but so would a wide array of others.
But what neither candidate has said much about - certainly not McCain - is that most U.S. corporations are not paying anywhere close to the current tax rate. In fact, a study expected to be released today by Congress shows that many of them are not paying any federal income tax at all.
A Government Accountability Office study shows that two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, and about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period. (Of course, the government report did not name names.)
It would be nice if, the next time John McCain talks about lowering the corporate tax rate to spur investment in new jobs, he would answer how that's going to work when most big companies aren't paying anything already. And it would be nice if the next time Barack Obama talks about closing the tax loopholes companies currently are leaping through, he would be asked to explain specifically how he would do so ... and how he would convince Congress to join that effort.
