Looming tax reform spurs hefty corporate pension contributions (2013, expenses, tax return)

[SuiteLiving]

Originally Posted by lchoro

There may be as much as $36 trillion in offshore domiciles that hasn't been taxed.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/16...osts-pandemic/

Remember when Trump claimed his tax reform would bring all this money home and raise tax revenues. It was all a ruse to cut taxes on his many pass-through LLC's. Receipts for corporate income tax fell by half in the first year of his tax plan.

Anytime they call something "reform" you know it's a scam.

How does cutting corporate income taxes cut taxes on pass-thru LLCs?

[lchoro]

Originally Posted by SuiteLiving

How does cutting corporate income taxes cut taxes on pass-thru LLCs?

It's now lower than the individual income tax rates. The filer has the discretion as to how they're taxed.

[SuiteLiving]

Originally Posted by lchoro

It's now lower than the individual income tax rates. The filer has the discretion as to how they're taxed.

Okay, so how did that help Trump? Did he decide to have them taxed as corporations to get the lower rate?

[Lillie767]

The real pension debacle is the underfunding and non-funding of government sponsored pension plans.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

We need to completely eliminate corporate income tax

I agree. And, I am a very liberal voter on most (all?) issues.

[lchoro]

Reagan had the right idea to make the tax rates the same and eliminate the special treatments. Gaming the system has become too profitable. The latter causes tax rates to be too high. Capital gains, dividends, and carry interest tax rates should be taxed using the tax rate schedule for overall income. You have people like Buffett paying zero on their capital gains taxes and going around bragging about it.

The corporations pushed up deductions in 2017 because the Trump tax law gave them deductions at the old higher tax rate while taxing income at the new lower rates.

[RationalExpectations]

Originally Posted by Lillie767

The real pension debacle is the underfunding and non-funding of government sponsored pension plans.

One could argue that public sector pensions are correctly funded - the problem is the promises exceeded the funding.

[lchoro]

The pension debacle in the private corporate plans is the accounting rules allowed them to pretend the plans were fully funded or overfunded. These maneuvers allowed the companies to inflate their earnings by underfunding or overstating the pension return assumptions. The problem again is that the regulatory bodies have been corrupted. A similar thing was done for the states' pension plans in some cases.

[Lillie767]

Originally Posted by RationalExpectations

One could argue that public sector pensions are correctly funded - the problem is the promises exceeded the funding.

Isn't that like saying, I'm not really bankrupt. I merely promised to pay my creditors more than I've got or can reasonably expect to have.

The governments haven't paid for the pension benefits already earned.

[lchoro]

Originally Posted by SuiteLiving

How does cutting corporate income taxes cut taxes on pass-thru LLCs?

I noticed Trump also put in a couple more goodies for himself. The tax on foreign profits repatriated by corporations are mostly deferred till 2022-2026. He uses a pass-thru LLCs, up to 500 of them, and his tax law allows for indefinite deferral while he gets to write off expense for these entities each year and use 100% accelerated depreciation to shelter his income.