Boris Johnson Quotes

Corporate tax reform is nice in theory but tough in practice. It most likely requires lower tax rates and the closing of loopholes, which many companies are sure to fight. And whatever new, lower tax rate is determined, there will probably be another country willing to lower its rate further, creating a sad race to zero.

Making the rich pay the same tax rates on their investment earnings that the rest of us pay on our earnings would be a good start [towards tax reform].

Almost everyone agrees that corporate tax rates need to be cut because of global competition. Companies should not be able to stash earnings overseas tax-free.

Arthur Laffer's idea, that lowering taxes could increase revenues, was logically correct. If tax rates are high enough, then people will go to such lengths to avoid them that cutting taxes can increase revenues. What he was wrong about was in thinking that income tax rates were already so high in the 1970s that cutting them would raise revenues.

Progressive taxation of income and profits means that precisely those parts of the income which people would have saved and invested are taxed away

Here's the problem if you keep raising tax rates: You slow down economic growth.

The truth is, our corporate income taxes are some of the highest in the world, and frankly, in my judgment it's unpatriotic if you're not for reducing the corporate income tax. We want to make it so American companies are on a more level playing field competing with companies around the world.

Every time in this century we've lowered the tax rates across the board, on employment, on saving, investment and risk-taking in this economy, revenues went up, not down.

The corporate income tax, in particular, is a tax that puts American corporations at a disadvantage.

I will never support any tax increase on middle-income earners, ever... If you're not going to eliminate loopholes and exemptions, then I wouldn't support lowering rates.

You don't get gushers of revenue by raising tax rates. You get it through expansion.

High tax rates distort economic decision making, and our corporate income tax rate is one of the highest in the world.

The share of income that small business people are paying in taxes is the lowest it has been in 65 years - since Obama has cut taxes 18 or 22 times for small business.

Anybody who is familiar with the historical data from the IRS knows that raising income tax rates will likely actually reduce federal revenues.

I think, in effect, in most of the European countries, the total marginal tax rate is over 50 percent; that's to say, add on other taxes like VAT to the income tax.

Victory Tax

It seems difficult to understand that high rates of taxation do not necessarily mean high revenue for the government, and that more revenue may often be obtained with lower tax rates.

It seems idle to speculate in the abstract as to whether or not a progressive income tax schedule rising to rates in excess of 70 percent are justifiable …. The fact is that such rates cannot be successfully collected.

If every country tries to race towards the lowest [tax] rate, then in the end nobody gains. If you believe there should be no government at all, then fine. But if you believe some government is good, then you cannot have a system that erodes the tax base in all major countries.

Cuts in tax rates on individual and company income nearly always produce more revenue, not less.

I think we have a tax policy that was designed before Microsoft even went public. I think we've got to change - we're at a huge disadvantage around the world.

I have long argued that in the modern world, corporation tax has had its day as a major source of tax revenue.

The Laffer Curve illustrates the basic idea that changes in tax rates have two effects on tax revenues: the arithmetic effect and the economic effect.

A study by Treasury economists estimated that a country with a tax rate one percentage point lower than another country's attracts 3 percent more capital. It's not surprising then, that average OECD corporate tax rates have trended steadily downward.

We cannot allow American taxpayers to foot the bill for tax revenue grabs in Europe and elsewhere.