Econ Comments & Analysis
Forbes | So PwC Aids In Tax Avoidance; Good, That's What PwC Is For, Aiding In Tax Avoidance
We’ve another of those splutterings from the Public Accounts Committee that one of the accounting firms, PwC, aids firms in avoiding tax. Which is great really, as that’s what those taxation arms of the accounting firms are for, aiding people in avoiding tax. Not in evading tax you understand, that’s illegal. But in navigating the complex tax rules so that the right amount of tax is paid at the right time in the right place. For that’s what all this whining about “tax avoidance” really is. Firms are faced with tens of thousands of pages of tax law that has been pumped out by the legislatures over the years. It’s not something that is comprehensible by any mere mortal.
Blogs
AEI | We’re #2 in taxing investment income. But apparently that’s not good enough
Many economists believe that the optimal tax rate on investments is zero. Higher investment rates growth and wages, so why discourage it? Nevertheless, most countries levy at least some taxes on investment income. Some country has to be the highest. And apparently someone working for the Obama administration asked, “Why not us?” The administration’s proposed increase in the capital gains tax rate would make the US’s combined corporate and capital gains tax rates among the very highest in the world.
