Obama proposes to further complicate our tax code

As recently as 2008 the World Bank ranked the United States the 4th easiest country in the world to start a new business in. Today, the World Bank ranks the U.S. as the 17th best place to start a new business. The biggest reason for the bad ranking? A complicated tax system that ranks 72nd in ease of compliance.

So what is President Obama’s big idea to encourage American businesses to create more job in the United States? To complicate the tax code even further. Reuters reports:

President Barack Obama, under election-year pressure to show voters he is tackling high unemployment, said on Wednesday he will soon roll out new tax proposals to encourage U.S. companies to keep jobs at home instead of outsourcing them overseas.
Highlighting what the White House touts as a growing trend but which some economists say has yet to gather much steam, Obama put the focus on businesses that have chosen to “insource” jobs and urged others to follow their lead.

The United States has second highest corporate tax rate in the world. But thanks to existing loopholes, corporations pay for less than the 25% nominal rate.

The best solution would be to lower the rate and get rid of loopholes. But Obama is incapable of lowering tax rates. Hence today’s new slew of tax breaks.

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