CEOs Back Tax Increases

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/11/ceos-back-tax-increases

The Wall Street Journal CEO Council, a group that includes News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, Citigroup's Vikram Pandit, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg, KKR's Henry Kravis, and Amway's Doug DeVos, has come out for raising taxes — just not on themselves.

Today's Journal includes a special section reporting on "The CEOs' Top Priorities." Among them: "Deficit reduction should include spending cuts, tax increases and credible budget rules." Tax increases! How do you like that? The CEOs think Americans are undertaxed.

Yet when it comes to their own taxes, or at least their companies' the CEOs want the taxes not increased, but cut. "Should include: cut of 10 percentage points in corporate tax rate; 100% depreciation on capital equipment through 2012; permanent R&D tax credit; cut in taxes on repatriated earnings, provided earnings are reinvested."

These are ordinarily the sort of recommendations that a reader might expect the Journal would be giving some scrutiny to rather than passing along in a kind of celebratory fashion, but then again, this is not just any CEO Council, it's the Wall Street Journal CEO Council.

by Ira Stoll  |  Nov 22, 2010 at 3:09 pm Related Topics:  Press, Taxes receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list