Tom Shelton – Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment Sat, 10 Dec 2016 02:19:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Corporations Pay no Taxes; All Taxes are Paid by Individuals Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:32:51 +0000 We often hear the liberals today claiming that we must raise taxes in order to pay down the national debt. They generally are quick to say that they don’t want to raise taxes on poor or on the middle class. They say that they plan to raise taxes on the rich and on corporations. After all, shouldn’t they pay their fair share? Or even more? The purpose of this article is to prove that corporations pay no taxes.


Now that I have your attention, let me explain how this is so.  Corporations are economic entities and they do collect and remit many types of taxes, such as income, sales and use, employment, capital gains, property, and personal property.  Many people stop right here and erroneously believe that corporations do indeed pay taxes.  On the surface it seems that they are correct, but they are, in fact, wrong. 

The basis on which corporations are taxed is profit.  If a corporation earns a profit in any given tax year then it will owe taxes on the profit only.  Corporations do not pay tax on gross revenues.  As individuals, we pay taxes based on our adjusted gross income less personal exemptions and standard or itemized deductions.  Don’t miss the difference here.  If corporations don’t earn a profit then they won’t owe any taxes. Now let me explain how I can say that corporations don’t pay taxes, they only remit taxes. 

Corporations need to make a profit to survive and if they don’t make a profit they will go out of business.  We can all understand this point.  Profit is basically calculated as revenue less expenses.  Corporations view taxes as a cost, or expense, of doing business, just the same as they view other expenses such as office supplies, rent, and payroll.  As such, when a corporation determines what it is going to charge for its goods or services it includes all the various taxes in its calculation.  This means that corporations pass along to their customers the cost of the taxes they remit . The corporation actually functions as a collection agent for the governmental agencies to which it reports. 

What does this mean to us?  When our elected governmental leaders talk about raising taxes on the rich and on the evil and greedy corporations, they are actually talking about raising taxes on every individual citizen under their authority.  Individuals pay the full amount of taxes charged by the government.  They pay them directly through their own personal income tax returns, through their property taxes, through the sales tax on the items they purchase, and through the embedded taxes that increase the  cost of the items they purchase.  No corporation or business pays taxes.  Those that claim they do are misinformed or are lying intentionally. 

So when you hear politicians talking about raising taxes or closing loopholes you now know that you will pay for this.  I suggest you vote accordingly in the next election and in every election to remove those who don’t understand this basic economic principle.

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The Attack on the Family Continues as Same-Sex Marriage is Legalized in New York Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:30:44 +0000 Last night same-sex marriage became law in the state of New York when Gov. Cuomo signed the bill. New York became the second state to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislative process (New Hampshire was the first). Four other states have legalized same-sex marriage through the court system. They are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont.








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The Debt Ceiling Should Not Be Raised Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:35:59 +0000 There is much debate right now as to whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised this summer. The debt ceiling is basically the limit that the federal government is legally able to borrow to pay its expenses. Proponents say that if it is not raised it will be disastrous to our economy while opponents say that if it is raised without spending limitations it will be disastrous to our economy. The current debt ceiling is set at $ 14.294 trillion. The ceiling was reached last month.

This issue has become a political football. The Republicans in Congress have vowed not to agree to raise the debt ceiling unless the increase is accompanied by a John Boehnersignificant spending reduction. Speaker Boehner has said the decrease must be in the trillions of dollars. Since the Republicans control the House of Representatives, Obama and the Democrats must deal with them. They are no longer able to ram legislation through like they did with Obamacare.

Right now, the debt ceiling is the best leverage conservatives have to force Obama and the Democrats to make some concessions. They should make the most of this. I proposed that they refuse to raise the debt ceiling and force the federal government to begin to better manage the tax dollars it takes from us. What is the worst that would happen? Would it force the country to default on some of its debt? Would it force our leaders to re-examine they spends our money? I know this is a bit of a simplistic view but the paradigm must be changed in Washington.

The fact that the federal government has to deal with the debt ceiling at all is due to the fact that it is spending more than it should. The numbers are so large that I sometimes wonder if those responsible for approving the expenditures loose site of the fact that real people are involved. It is time to bring them back to reality. It is time to let them know that they no longer have a blank check.

Contact your representatives and let them know that you want them to vote against raising the debt ceiling. Let them know that you will be paying attention to how they vote and you intend to hold them accountable at the ballot box.


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