Capital Corner

I recently explained to The Tennessean how repatriation can benefit our economy at no cost to taxpayers…

Supporters of the corporate holiday — something akin to the tax-free, back-to-school shopping weekends that Tennessee and other states routinely sponsor — say it would help the federal government collect at least some taxes on money that would otherwise stay offshore.

Margo Thorning, chief economist at the American Council for Capital Formation, called the tax holiday idea “like a free stimulus bill — money that we wouldn’t see otherwise…”

U.S. Treasury officials had said they would only consider letting U.S. companies pay a reduced tax rate on profits earned overseas as part of a broader overhaul of the U.S. corporate tax code.

Even tax holiday proponents — such as the American Council for Capital Formation — say something should be done longer-term about corporate tax rates in the United States.

Thorning, the economist who speaks for that pro-business group, argued that U.S. taxes on businesses are higher than in any other industrialized country except Japan.

“As long as our tax rate is so much higher than other countries, companies are unlikely to bring offshore earnings home — especially in today’s uncertain environment about tax policy, deficit reduction and environmental policies,” Thorning said.