Tim Hortons has been owned by a large U.S. chain before. It was spun off from Wendy’s in 2006 and became a publicly listed company that is now widely held by Canadian financial institutions, without one controlling shareholder (Quoting from The Star).
Reproducing relevant parts from an recent article from The Economist:
America’s corporate tax has two horrible flaws. The first is the tax rate, which at 35% is the highest among the 34 mostly rich-country members of the OECD. Yet it raises less revenue than the OECD average thanks to myriad loopholes and tax breaks aimed at everything from machinery investment to NASCAR race tracks. Last year these breaks cost $150 billion in forgone revenue, more than half of what America collected in total corporate taxes.
The second flaw is that America levies tax on a company’s income no matter where in the world it is earned. In contrast, every other large rich country taxes only income earned within its borders. Here, too, America’s system is absurdly ineffective at collecting money. Firms do not have to pay tax on foreign profits until they bring them back home. Not surprisingly, many do not: American multinationals have some $2 trillion sitting on their foreign units’ balance-sheets, and growing.
The real solution is to lower the corporate rate, eliminate tax breaks and move America from a worldwide system to a territorial one.
I appreciate the content of your post, but I'd like to know for sure who is saying what. Please use quotes when quoting. Links to the source would be nice, too. I believed the first sentence to be yours until I got to the end of it. Is the last sentence is yours or The Enconomist's?
I've never heard anyone say that American corporations pay too much taxes before. That's a first. It's always that they're getting away with paying not enough.
Strictly speaking, that's partly what he said (IE. The tax rate is much higher, however loopholes means they end-up with much less tax in the end). Lowering the tax rate could still result in companies overall paying more tax if tax breaks are removed.
Reproducing relevant parts from an recent article from The Economist:
America’s corporate tax has two horrible flaws. The first is the tax rate, which at 35% is the highest among the 34 mostly rich-country members of the OECD. Yet it raises less revenue than the OECD average thanks to myriad loopholes and tax breaks aimed at everything from machinery investment to NASCAR race tracks. Last year these breaks cost $150 billion in forgone revenue, more than half of what America collected in total corporate taxes.
The second flaw is that America levies tax on a company’s income no matter where in the world it is earned. In contrast, every other large rich country taxes only income earned within its borders. Here, too, America’s system is absurdly ineffective at collecting money. Firms do not have to pay tax on foreign profits until they bring them back home. Not surprisingly, many do not: American multinationals have some $2 trillion sitting on their foreign units’ balance-sheets, and growing.
The real solution is to lower the corporate rate, eliminate tax breaks and move America from a worldwide system to a territorial one.