Does Haste Make Waste?

        One word that can be used to describe the current efforts in Tax Reform is: speed. There are major changes to the current Federal Tax plan that are being proposed, and if passed, they will go into effect in less than 5 years. But what will happen when they do? Since the different plans are still being debated, nobody can say for sure. However, there are many possibilities that are of concern because they can lead to very big loopholes. 
 
       For example, there is a provision to change the Corporate Tax System in the US. Currently, all Corporate profits for US companies are taxed, no matter where in the world they are earned. This has led some companies to keep their overseas profits from coming back to the US, by any number of complicated schemes. The change would be a switch that only taxes profits earned in this country. On the surface, this might give more incentive for a business to transfer money to an overseas parent. However, if a company that makes over $100 Million were to try this, they could be subject to a 20% Tax under this rule. These seem to be good answers to troublesome Tax issues that have been going on for years.
 
          Before these reform plans even get close to being applied, loopholes have already been pointed out. There are still tax shelters in low tax countries that can be used through skillful manipulation. There is also the possibility that Corporations could move production and research facilities to other countries to get around that 20% tax. While, the process of changing the Tax Code is ongoing, perhaps being through and detailed in this work should be the focus.

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