There seems to be some importance attached to taxes, midst all of the hurrah of election politics. Someone pays too much, someone else pays too little. Did this company pay no taxes? There must be something sinister going on then. Even more sinister, why won't this candidate show us all of his tax returns? Did you know that he has accounts in the Cayman Islands and in Switzerland? That surely must be nefarious!
As one of our most distinguished jurists once wrote in 1947 that "there is nothing sinister in so arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible" This, of course presupposes that there are equally valid alternative ways of completing your tax return. This also applies whether you are a person or a corporation.
So, did this corporation break the law when they paid no taxes in 2011? That's for the IRS and the court to decide. Could they have legally paid no taxes? Yes, of course. With the verbose, convoluted mess that is our tax code, this is more than possible. All of the things that irritate us, the no taxes for corporations, the limited or no taxes by wealthier individuals, the money sheltered overseas by both corporations and individuals are all legal by our tax code.
The question you should be asking is not, how much tax did this person or company pay? Rather, the question is, who made this stinking mess of a tax code? The answer to that is, of course, the Congress we keep electing. Could our tax code be made more equitable, less regressive and simpler? I would like to believe that it could. But, it will not happen until we get a new attitude in Washington, D.C.
