Small Business Owners Favor Raising Taxes on Millionaires

[Lisa Lisa]

Ooops. I think the Pugs just lost a talking point!












Poll: Small Business Owners Say Big Businesses, Millionaires Not
Paying Fair Share of Taxes
90 percent of small business owners in nationwide poll say big
corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes that small businesses have
to pay; majority support increasing taxes on millionaires and letting
high-end tax cuts expire

WASHINGTON, Feb 07, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Small business owners see
corporate tax loopholes and the shifting of U.S. profits to offshore
tax havens as serious problems, according to a new independent
national poll. Small business owners think big corporations and the
wealthy don't pay their fair share of taxes, the poll shows. They
support increasing taxes on millionaire incomes, letting high-end tax
cuts expire, and closing the carried interest loophole that gives
hedge fund managers big tax breaks.

These findings from a scientific nationwide survey of small business
owners released by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main
Street Alliance and Small Business Majority are summarized below with
links to the full report.

"I've been in business 32 years, and I'm appalled at how big
corporations and millionaires have shrunk their taxes," said Lew
Prince, owner of Vintage Vinyl, an independent music store in St.
Louis, MO. "Ingrates like Amazon wouldn't even exist without the
Internet, which grew out of government research. The least big
corporations and their executives could do is pay their fair share for
the roads, ports, education, research, public safety and everything
else that tax dollars buy."

"When big corporations use loopholes and tax havens to avoid paying
taxes, they're robbing our country of the resources we need to invest
in our future," said Aimee McQuilkin, owner of Betty's Divine, a
clothing boutique in Missoula, MT and Montana Small Business Alliance
member. "If you want to fly the American flag outside your corporate
headquarters, you should be paying your way."

"We need a Buffett Rule for wealthy individuals and a GE Rule for
corporations," said Scott Klinger, director of tax policy for Business
for Shared Prosperity, a partner in the American Sustainable Business
Council. "Warren Buffett spotlighted the madness of a tax code that
lets him pay a lower rate than his secretary. Likewise, U.S.
multinational corporations who shift U.S. profits to offshore tax
havens shouldn't be rewarded with a tax rate below Main Street
employers."

"Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, yet they feel the
playing field is tilted in big businesses' favor and small firms are
at a disadvantage when it comes to taxes and corporate loopholes,"
said John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority. "Our
economy needs to work for everyone. Policymakers need to listen to
small businesses and level the economic playing field. If they do, we
will all benefit from what small businesses can offer."

Key poll findings include:

-- Small business owners believe corporate tax loopholes are serious
problems: 90 percent say big corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes
that small businesses have to pay; 91 percent believe the corporate
shifting of U.S. profits offshore to avoid taxes is a problem. 75
percent believe their small business is harmed when big corporations
use loopholes.

-- Small business owners believe big corporations and millionaires pay
less than their fair share of taxes: 67 percent believe this for big
corporations; 58 percent believe this for households with annual
incomes over $1 million.

-- Small business owners support tax proposals that raise revenues: 57
percent say millionaires should pay more taxes. 51 percent say tax
cuts on annual household income over $250,000 should end. 81 percent
favor eliminating the "carried interest" loophole that gives big tax
breaks to hedge fund managers.

-- Respondents were politically diverse: 50 percent identified as
Republicans, 32 percent Democrats, and 15 percent independents.

Read the report: http://www.asbcouncil.org/uploads/Taxes_Poll_Report_FINAL.pdf
http://mainstreetalliance.org/5535/poll-taxes/
http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/small-business-research/downloads/020612_Taxes_Poll_Report.pdf

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[Werner]

THis is nothing earthshaking. Everybody thinks it fair that someone else to pay taxes.

[DCI]

On Feb 7, 8:04 am, Lisa Lisa <harryharr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Ooops.  I think the Pugs just lost a talking point!
>
> Poll: Small Business Owners Say Big Businesses, Millionaires Not
> Paying Fair Share of Taxes
> 90 percent of small business owners in nationwide poll say big
> corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes that small businesses have
> to pay; majority support increasing taxes on millionaires and letting
> high-end tax cuts expire

Cut -

Eliminating the head on a glass of draft beer does nothing for beer in
general.

DCI

[Lisa Lisa]

Obviously, you've been drinking waaaaay too much beer.


Lisa

[DCI]

Lisa,

That task was completed years ago and this old man has touched nary a
drop of stuff.

The tax problem is really not individual millionaires, it is with the
multi-billion dollars that huge corporations have banked without
paying one cent to taxes.

In reality, corporations run the government.

DCI

[Nickname unavailable]

On Feb 7, 10:28 am, Werner <whetz...@mac.com> wrote:
> THis is nothing earthshaking. Everybody thinks it fair that someone else to pay taxes.

the war on capitalism continues;The economy prospers when the middle
class consumes goods/businesses will be destroyed if the government
cuts programs for the middle class/We are systematically destroying
our customer base in this country by undercutting the middle class: If
it was true that the rich and business were job creators we'd be
drowning in jobs today

please click on the link for the excellent video also.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/millionaire-investor-calls-higher-taxes-rich-145808200.html


Millionaire Investor Calls for Higher Taxes on the Rich
Venture capitalist and entrepreneur Nick Hanauer has stern words for
millionaires -- it's time to pay your fair share of taxes.
The self-made millionaire, who sold his Internet media company
aQuantive to Microsoft for $6.4 billion, tells Henry Blodget in the
above video that he supports changes to the tax code.
"People in the top 1 percent are paying historically low tax rates,"
he says. "That's simply an unsustainable way to run a capitalistic
society."
Hanauer admits he paid an 11 percent tax rate on an eight-figure
income in 2010. He's one of several millionaires speaking out against
what he feels is an outdated system that disproportionately benefits
the rich at the country's -- and the middle class's -- expense.
An analysis conducted by the nonpartisan Congressional Research
Service in October found that nearly a quarter of millionaires (or
94,500 taxpayers) pay a lower tax rate than 10.4 million moderate-
income taxpayers. CRS defines "moderate-income" households as those
earning below $100,000 annually.
President Obama has urged Congress to pass the so-called "Buffett
rule" named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett. In his State of
the Union address last month, Obama said "if you make more than $1
million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes."
Buffett has been an unequivocal proponent of changing the tax code,
widely publicizing that his long-time secretary pays a higher tax rate
than he does. Buffett announced that he paid $7 million in taxes in
2010 — or 17.4 percent of his taxable income. According to the
Congressional Budget Office, the richest 0.01 percent of Americans
paid a combined 17.5 percent in individual income and payroll taxes in
2005. IRS data shows that 1,470 households paid zero federal income
tax in 2009 despite reporting an income of more than $1 million. The
Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center projects that the average overall
federal tax rate for 2011 will be 18.8%.
Capital gains, dividends and "carried interest" are taxed at a 15
percent rate. Hedge fund managers and private equity titans pay the 15
percent rate because their income comes from investor fees, not
salaries. The AP reports federal taxes are at 60-year lows and federal
tax receipts will be equal to 14.8 percent of GDP, the lowest level
since President Harry Truman was in office. The federal budget deficit
could reach a record $1.5 trillion this year because of smaller
revenue and increased spending.
Hanauer says keeping taxes low on the country's wealthiest won't boost
economic growth or lower the nation's 8.3 percent jobless rate. The
economy prospers when the middle class consumes goods, he argues, and
businesses will be destroyed if the government cuts programs for the
middle class.
"We are systematically destroying our customer base in this country by
undercutting the middle class," he says. "If it was true that the rich
and business were job creators, we'd be drowning in jobs today."