Via The New York Times (H/T Phil's Stock World).
Having a high tax rate and then filling the code with loopholes is a way to support the loophole industry, it is not good economic policy. It makes much more sense to lower the rate and eliminate the loopholes, so that the marginal tax rate is also the rate that businesses actually pay. Ideally this should be done in a way that raises some additional revenue, since we will need more money once the economy recovers.
There is a long list of ill-conceived tax breaks that have been put into the tax code over the years but the best place to start is with the drug industry’s credit for research. As a result of this and other tax breaks the pharmaceutical industry pays just 5.6 percent of its profits in taxes. This puts it just above the biotech industry, which pays 4.5 percent of its profits in taxes.
I think most of the trouble arises because people have a tough time making up their mind as to what to do next. Without taking a stance and continously fishing for information doesn't help anyone's cause and puts most people at risk.
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