Dollars and Jens
Friday, July 27, 2007
the corporate tax code
Well, this is heartening:
When Paulson asked panelists whether they'd like to see the corporate tax rate lowered from 35 percent - the top rate today - to 27 percent along with the elimination of preferences such as the research and development credit, Safra Catz, president and CFO of Oracle Corporation, said without hesitation. "I'd trade it in a minute for a simpler, lower rate."This is one of those ways in which I expect corporate types — for want of a better label — to oppose economic efficiency. Tax-code inefficiencies tend to create their own constituencies, and tend to have a mind-share in excess of their size relative to the basic rate. They do, though, create a lot of waste on rent-seeking, not to mention increasing investment on lower-value projects at the expense of higher-value but less visible or politically connected ones. I'd love to see a move toward their elimination.
