You’re reading the Prompt 2024 newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox. Vice President Kamala Harris is out with her economic plan “to bring down costs for American families.” There’s already a lot of buzz about her proposals to go after corporate “price gouging,” cut taxes for families with kids and offer $25,000 … Read more
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), newly selected as Donald Trump’s running mate, rocketed on to the national stage in 2016 after documenting the roots of the MAGA movement in his book “Hillbilly Elegy.” Less than a decade later, the native Ohioan has been tapped to bolster the Republican presidential ticket — bringing a unique brand of … Read more
Google is considering acquiring HubSpot, a US marketing software maker with a market value of billion, to enhance its ability to compete against Microsoft in offering cloud-based applications to companies.
Hungry people in the U.S. faced a .1 billion shortfall in funds for basic food needs in 2022, with nearly half of them not qualifying for aid. This was the highest shortfall in 20 years due to higher food prices. Hunger rose in 2022 amid high food price inflation and the end of federal financial support and expanded food aid programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly half of food-insecure people may not qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Congress has expanded funding for a key nutrition program serving mothers and young children to address the issue.
The Minnesota Legislature is considering several bills targeting corporations, including proposals to require large corporations to disclose their state income tax filings and to cap the number of single-family rental units a company can own. Rep. Esther Agbaje is pushing a bill that would cap the number of single-family homes one business entity can own, primarily corporations. Governor Tim Walz has stated that he is not interested in raising or cutting corporate taxes, but rather maintaining a proper balance. Minnesota has the highest corporate tax rate among the states, but the effective tax rate is lower due to deductions. Several bills are moving in the Legislature aimed at regulating corporations, including those related to single-family home ownership, tax transparency, hospital salaries, debt collection, corporate tax studies, health care acquisitions, and employee classification. Critics argue that the bills and underlying philosophy behind them are anti-business.
– Corporate taxpayers with billion in income would pay 21 percent on their first 0 million in income, 25 percent on 0 million of their income, and 30 percent on billion of their income, resulting in a total tax bill of 6 million and an average tax rate of 27.3 percent.
– Graduated rate of corporate taxation was a feature of the corporate tax until recently.
– Approximately 99.7 percent of corporate taxpayers fall below the thresholds of million in tax payments.
– 87 percent of tax payments are made by corporations above the million tax payment threshold.
– Companies with tax payments of more than 0 million generate about billion in additional tax revenue.
– Tax revenues would increase by about billion in 2019 with the proposed reform.
– The tax code can discourage market power by levying a higher tax on firms likely to exercise it.
– International tax cooperation can limit tax competition pressures and reduce profit-shifting incentives.
– Market power provides a rationale for reconsidering tax preferences for very-high-profit large companies.
– Graduated corporate tax brackets would be straightforward to administer, especially for large companies.
– Tax policy should distinguish the normal return to capital from the above-normal return to capital to improve efficiency and equity of capital taxation.
Fact: CashApp Taxes is chosen as the best overall free tax preparation software by ZDNet.
Microsoft will now sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally, following an unbundling in Europe to avoid potential EU antitrust fines. Teams, added to Office 365 in 2017, replaced Skype for Business and became popular during the pandemic for video conferencing. The unbundling addresses feedback from the European Commission and provides more flexibility for multinational companies. Prices for Office without Teams range from .75 to .75 for new customers, while Teams Standalone will cost .25. Microsoft risks antitrust charges and fines for bundling products, with potential fines of up to 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty.
Visa and Mastercard reached a billion settlement to limit credit and debit card fees for merchants, with savings likely to be passed on to consumers through lower prices.
The US government has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of unlawfully monopolizing the smartphone market through restrictions on app developers, which allegedly forces consumers to pay higher prices and curbs choice and innovation. The Department of Justice, along with 15 state governments, claims Apple’s practices harm competition in areas such as “super apps,” cloud streamed gaming apps, messaging apps, smartwatches, and digital wallets. Apple counters that the government’s accusations are factually and legally incorrect. Legal experts note differences between this case and the 1998 case against Microsoft, highlighting that Apple’s market share and competition dynamics, particularly with Android, make the case more challenging for the government. In 2021, a federal judge ruled in favor of Apple in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, finding that Epic failed to prove Apple users were “locked-in” to their iPhones. The lawsuit reflects the DOJ and the Biden Administration’s Federal Trade Commission’s willingness to pursue significant antitrust cases.