skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Tax Code Leaves Workers Paying Higher Tax Rate than Corporations

play audio
Play

Tuesday, December 24, 2019   

LANSING, Mich. - A new report says 91 of the nation's largest corporations didn't pay any federal income taxes in 2018, the first year of the Trump administration's new tax law. The study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says even though the corporate tax rate was lowered to 21%, legal loopholes allowed the corporations surveyed to pay, on average, just over 11% in taxes.

Report co-author Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the institute, pointed out this kind of corporate tax avoidance is entirely within the law.

"There is no implication that any of this is illegal. By all accounts, these companies are simply using the legal tax breaks that they lobbied Congress to give them," Gardner said.

The companies that paid zero taxes include Amazon, Netflix and DowDupont of Midland, Michigan. Detroit-based General Motors also didn't contribute any taxes on more than $4 billion in profits. Supporters of the new Tax Code have argued that lowering corporate rates would lead to increased investments and higher wages.

But Gardner said most workers' wages have remained stagnant, and many corporations used the extra money saved on taxes to buy back stock instead of investing in their companies. He called the report's findings disturbing, especially for middle-class workers who now know they pay a much higher tax rate than many wealthy corporations.

"There is a problem of democratic distrust right now," he said. "People do not trust their government, they don't trust elected officials. And it's precisely this sort of finding that reinforces that distrust."

The authors suggest Congress should reinstate a strong corporate Alternative Minimum Tax to act as a backstop to ensure all profitable corporations pay a meaningful corporate income-tax bill each year.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021