Nike gets NO NEW TAXES
Oregon- Nike is proposing on being a job creator in Oregon in exchange for a freeze on their state taxes. This proposal could amount to hundreds of jobs for the state which has prompted legistlators to approve this measure as emergency legislation.
Critics of the approval are suspicious about the timing and intent of this special session. When other legislators were out on holiday break Oregon legislators came together and approved an emergency assurance to one of the largest shoe and athletic companies in the world.
This deal once again proves that Oregon will go to great lengths to protect this corporate giant and all it brings to the state. Money and power has once again tromped common sense and assessing fair taxes equally on all taxpaying parties.
“We have a wonderful, wonderful company that’s going to be remaining in Oregon because of what we’re doing here today,” said Democratic Sen. Ginny Burdick of Portland.
This Nike deal is completely unconventional in a world where tax cuts for the wealthy have become commonplace in the political world.
Due to its emergency nature the meeting cost taxpayers $13,000 and came right before the regular legislation was set to be held. With all of these circumstances the deal seems rather peculiar that it happened in such a manner.
Such factors led Kitzhaber to acknowledge the emergency legislative session was “extraordinarily awkward.”
With this initiative in place Nike has promised to make more than 500 jobs and invest at least $150 million dollars into Oregon’s economy. The bill could be signed as early as next week by the governor.
It is still unclear as to why the emergency legislation took place but one could surmise that Nike may have been threatening to expand outside of Oregon. Nike declined to comment.
In a statement, Nike spokeswoman Mary Remuzzi thanked legislators for acting “quickly and decisively.”
“This is a very positive step forward, not only for our company but for the state of Oregon,” the statement said.
This new infrastructure and job creation is critical in a state that has low property tax, no sales take and relies heavily on personal income taxes. Why in such a tax strapped state legislators are actually giving up tax collection on one of the largest employers in the state. No one knows.
Nike justifies this by claiming that these new jobs to be made are in high income positions and therefore will help bolster the economy.
Nike has been quiet on its new expansion plans or what it plans to do or what the workers plan on doing.
Nike has roots deep within Oregon when it was created in the 1960’s by a runner and his college track coach. Nowadays this company has blossomed into one of the most influential and popular brands in the world. The company is also a very large donor to the University of Oregon.
One can see just how much pull money and power can bring into the legislative sphere. It looks like Nike has their state politicians calling emergency legislative sessions and pulling favors for them. What’s next?
Categories: Income Tax, State Tax, Tax Law Tags: avoiding taxes, corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, nike tax, oregon tax, political corruption, state tax, tax increase
Are new taxes fair?
The presidential election may have decided in favor of Obama, but a creepy reminder of Mitt Romney tax policy keeps creeping into view. With the fiscal cliff just around the corner every American is waiting with bated breath for these tax talks to be resolved.
A new idea from an unlikely source is getting bipartisan attention as a way to broaden the base of taxpayers while limiting loopholes and deductions taken by the wealthy. This proposal that just so happens to be the brainchild of the failed presidential contender Mitt Romney would limit the amount of itemized deductions to a certain monetary limit.
“There’s renewed interest” in the cap on deductions, Senator Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who heads the Senate Budget Committee said.
This seems like a too good to be true generic way of taxing everyone equally without getting any sore feelings from lobbyists or or powerful interests. Since it seems as if no one can pin down the actual specifics of any plan a politician puts forward until the thing is passed and already effecting our lives. Tax experts disagree that this methodology would serve as a quick fix for our broken tax system claiming that it would disproportionately effect different tax bases.
But this solution doesn’t tackle the larger tax preferences, which make up a large part of the Buffet rule, saying that no wealthy person should be paying less in taxes than their secretary.
These experts have their suspicions that this tax proposal may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing that disproportionately increases the tax burden on the poor and middle class while do nothing to curb the favorable tax environment for the wealthy. This would also effect the entire donor model which so many nonprofits, schools, and museums require to survive.
Martin Feldstein, a Harvard economist and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan, thinks that this methodology is a great way to lower the deficit. His proposal calls for capping deductions at 2 percent of income for all individuals.
But this cap on deductions would hit the lower socioeconomic classes where they need it the most… in the charitable sector. That is because this deduction is largely discretionary and at the will of the taxpayer to how much he or she would deduct from their tax bill.
Will this cap on deduction send the charitable sector or our economy into dire straights or is capping deductions that silver bullet needed put the breaks on the economy that is heading towards a fiscal cliff.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags: buffet rule, charitable deduction, corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, mitt romney, tax deduction, tax increase, tax reform
Companies avert paying taxes AGAIN before their taxes go up
The wealthy are scrambling to take advantage of the current tax code by exploiting the system in mass numbers and driving profits into their pockets before the tax hikes on the rich Obama wants go into effect.
Countless companies including Costco and the Las Vegas Sands have declared what they call “special dividends’ to liquidate tax free capital. This amounts to over $20 billion dollars in this last quarter alone. Other firms are shelling out bonuses, commissions, and dividends early before the wealth bombshell is to be dropped on the wealthiest few.
“We’re going to have a big jump in household income in the fourth quarter” said Crandall. “It’s going to be in excess of $50 billion.”
A majority of this scrambling is occurring in the uppermost crust of the elite. The 2% of the wealthiest Americans will be the benefits of this early cashout. President Barack Obama wants to target these wealthiest of individuals to help solve the fiscal crisis that lies before us by raising their rates.
Of interest in 2009 52% of the 124 billion dividends reported by federal government went to this 2% according to the IRS. A definite symbol of how backwards our world has become with income inequality.
This statistic alone proves just how unequal income distribution really is as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The wealth has shifted from labor income to capital income, an income with yields the benefit of lower taxes
How will this increase in taxes effect us in the long run? The rich typically save rather than spend so it is a good indication that a tax increase won’t hurt the economy by too much. It is about time that the wealthy began paying their fair share of this American Dream rather than being the gold tipped parasites that they are.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags: avoiding taxes, corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, federal tax fraud, income tax, tax code, tax court, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax law, tax reform