Comment by dsparkman | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dsparkman | Hacker News Reader

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Would the repatriation mean more US jobs as a result? Doubtful. Apple, et al. would not suddenly do on a hiring binge. They would also not suddenly start paying their employees more or provide better benefits.

This is a red herring that politicians love to try and justify huge tax rate cuts for businesses that are unnecessary but provide a good sound bite. Tax rate cuts that they already enjoy because the US government allows them to stash the cash overseas already to avoid the taxes.

A US citizen is forced to pay income tax on all income worldwide. Live in France, pay French taxes and US income tax on income over $72,000. And you only get the $72k break if you are in the country less than 30 days in a calendar year.

US corporations, on the other hand, can stash all overseas earning overseas to reduce their tax liability. Most US corporations already pay a lower effective tax rate than most US citizens.

Apple would dividend most of the profits to hundreds of thousands of investors. Those investors will often reinvest those dividends to or leave them in the bank, both of which drive capital investment in the US, higher productivity and creates better jobs.

The US corporate tax rate is one of the highest in the world, making the US one of the most costly places to invest. Taxing investment instead of consumption is directly lowering our standard of living.

The fact that our taxe rates on individuals working overseas is stupid too doesn't mean we should fix the corporate tax rates. In fact corporate tax rates should be zero, as you don't want to tax reinvested capital, and if profits aren't reinvested they are paid as dividends, and you can tax dividends at ordinary income rates to restore progressively to our tax system.

One more quick point. US banks would love to have all that cash repatriated. It for every $1 that Apple et al. deposits into their bank they create $10 of new currency that they can loan out.

"Apple, et al. would not suddenly do on a hiring binge. They would also not suddenly start paying their employees more or provide better benefits."

Nor would they onshore a meaningful amount of manufacturing from the Far East.

There's no shortage of cash to invest now in the US, they are instead most likely to use the cash for stock buybacks and dividends.

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