US Taxes Second Lowest in Developed World

[Toro]

This data comes from the OECD, specifically this spreadsheet.

Only Slovakia has a lower tax take relative to GDP than the United States.

 

[Indiana Oracle]

And... ?

 

[Toro]

And they are the second lowest in the developed world.

 

[Iriemon]

Based on all the bitching about taxes I've heard from our friends on the right, I expect hordes of them will move to Slovakia.

 

[xsited1]

This data comes from the OECD, specifically this spreadsheet.

Only Slovakia has a lower tax take relative to GDP than the United States.

Are you talking about this?

Annex Table 30. General government underlying primary balances
(Surplus (+) or deficit (-) as a per cent of potential GDP)

 

[Toro]

No, it is

EO84 Annex Tables: Fiscal balances and public indebtedness

at the bottom of the page.

The tab in the spreadsheet is Tax & Non-Tax Receipts.

 

[neurosport]

i guess that explains why US was the one most concerned with fighting the "evil" communism ...

 

[code1211]

This data comes from the OECD, specifically this spreadsheet.

Only Slovakia has a lower tax take relative to GDP than the United States.

What is the remedy you seek? Do you wish to reduce our GDP to the levels of the others so our obviously much larger tax revenues are put into the proper perspective or should we increase our taxes to the levels of the others as a percent completely eliminating the reward for risk and making our economy a mirror of these other powerhouses?

Our fiscal crisis is not one based on the low amount of taxes collected. It's based on the outrageous spending. Not a partisan statement. Both parties are spending our money like it has no value. Pretty soon it won't have any value left. I thought that it was interesting that Bush was cited as a free spended.

The Congress refused to approve 12 months of the Bush budget. When they approved the second have of the fiscal year, they added 8%. That 8% had nothing to do with the TARP or the recovery plan. Soon our taxes and GDP will look just like Sweden's.

The Chinese are already asking for guarentees on the debt we owe them.

 

[xsited1]

No, it is

EO84 Annex Tables: Fiscal balances and public indebtedness

at the bottom of the page.

The tab in the spreadsheet is Tax & Non-Tax Receipts.

Ah. The original link was blocked at the office.

It makes the European countries look like socialist countries. Oh, I forgot. They are.

 

[neurosport]

Hope... Change... Simple mantras for simple minds.

that's pretty scary - it doesn't get much simpler than that !

almost makes you think Obama won because he only has 4 letters in his name and McCain lost because he had 5 ...

 

[RetiredGySgt]

This data comes from the OECD, specifically this spreadsheet.

Only Slovakia has a lower tax take relative to GDP than the United States.

Not when it comes to Businesses, we have the second HIGHEST rate.

 

[Toro]

What is the remedy you seek? Do you wish to reduce our GDP to the levels of the others so our obviously much larger tax revenues are put into the proper perspective or should we increase our taxes to the levels of the others as a percent completely eliminating the reward for risk and making our economy a mirror of these other powerhouses?

Our fiscal crisis is not one based on the low amount of taxes collected. It's based on the outrageous spending. Not a partisan statement. Both parties are spending our money like it has no value. Pretty soon it won't have any value left. I thought that it was interesting that Bush was cited as a free spended.

The Congress refused to approve 12 months of the Bush budget. When they approved the second have of the fiscal year, they added 8%. That 8% had nothing to do with the TARP or the recovery plan. Soon our taxes and GDP will look just like Sweden's.

The Chinese are already asking for guarentees on the debt we owe them.

Its pretty silly to ask if I am in favor of reducing GDP. I offer this data for information so people can be informed when they make international comparisons.

 

[Toro]

Not when it comes to Businesses, we have the second HIGHEST rate.

Yes, but the effective rate of tax paid by business is amongst the lowest.

Fact is, though our tax laws include statutory rates that are fairly high (35% for corporations earning about $18 million or more annually) but generally in the same ballpark as those of other developed western nations, the actual tax rates paid by US corporations are extraordinarily low, around 6%. Remember the latest GAO report (reported elsewhere on ataxingmatter) that shows that two-thirds of US corporations pay no federal income tax. That's not just the ones that are losing money, but also many corporations that have record high profits (including some Big Oil companies) that end up paying next to nothing in taxes.

ataxingmatter: Tax Foundation and Competitive Environments: more bunk!

Again, what matters is what people actually pay, not what the nominal rate is. It is irrelevant that the rate of tax is so high if the actual rate paid is low. This is why I posted the graph above.

I'm not necessarily against a low rate of corporate income tax. Far from it. But arguing that we should cut taxes because the nominal corporate income tax rate is high distorts the debate.

 

[del]

Hope... Change... Simple mantras for simple minds.

that's pretty scary - it doesn't get much simpler than that !

almost makes you think Obama won because he only has 4 letters in his name and McCain lost because he had 5 ...

unless you know how to count.

 

[WillowTree]

What are the unemployment rates in those socialist countries? she wondered!

 

[Old Rocks]

Well, pretty damned easy to find out.

Unemployment in Europe - European elections 2009 - Élections européennes 2009 - EUdebate

 

[Ame®icano]

Wondering why US are less competitive and why jobs are leaving elsewhere?

Here is the chart that shows corporate taxes.

 

[Toro]

Wondering why US are less competitive and why jobs are leaving elsewhere?

Here is the chart that shows corporate taxes.

See this post.

BTW, I thought all the conservatives used to crow at all the jobs that America produced as one of the reasons why we are so much better than Europe.

Of course, they're right, but you can't on the one hand tell us that America is a wondrous job-creating machine and on the other say that jobs are leaving America.

 

[manu1959]

at one poitn you all thought the us was great....now you don't and want to change back to something it once was or copy some other country.....having been to quite a few of those developed countries not sure which one is better than this one.....

 

[Toro]

I'm just trying to illuminate the issue because I believe there is a lot of misinformation around.

I think a lower tax rate on business is better than a high tax rate. However, we have to have both an intellectually honest and accurate understanding of the issues to make an informed decision.