In her letter “Corporations, wealthy should pay fair share” (Aug. 14, TribLIVE), Sandy Kremer refers to an AP article claiming that the richest 25 people in the U.S. have paid very little income tax. Wikipedia says the total worth of the 25 richest Americans is approximately $1.774 trillion. Even if the IRS were to confiscate the entire $1.774 trillion from these 25 people, it would barely be enough to get us through one year of borrowing in a normal year.
I’m guessing Kremer is aware of this, so I have to believe that her interest in having these people pay more taxes is to punish them for being wealthy.
Regarding corporations, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal taxes on their profits in the 2020 tax year. Had these 55 corporations paid at the current 21% rate, an additional $8.5 billion would have gone to the Treasury Department. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions of dollars that our government borrows each year.
Corporations don’t pay taxes. People pay taxes. Want to see your prices go up? Let Congress take away all of the corporate tax exemptions that they have enacted, and you’ll see the unintended consequences of price hikes to the consumer.
Currently, the Dems run Congress and they have the presidency. They could take away any or all of the corporate tax exemptions whenever they like. Ask Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer why they don’t.
Ralph Dunsworth
Oviedo, Fla.