EU tax competition
For all it’s bureaucracy, red tape and faults the EU entails two important qualities of freedom. Freedom of movement and freedom of trade. Under such a setup you would normally expect to see juristictions compete for businesses and citizens by offering better services or by providing lower tax rates. Suddently the latter seems to be happening in the EU at least with regards to corporate taxes.
The following article has more.
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2007053093638
The lower house of the German Parliament last week passed a bill to cut 9 percentage points off its corporate tax rate by 2008.
The parliament backed Chancellor Angela Merkel`s plan of paring the EU’s highest corporate tax rate of 38.65%. The plan is aimed at attracting investment and preventing companies from moving operations overseas.
In March, Gordon Brown, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and prime minister-in-waiting, announced a plan to lop two percentage points off the top rate, which is now 30 percent. Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected French president this month, promised to reduce his country`s 33 percent rate by at least five percentage points.
If most of the big economies of Europe are moving to corporate tax rates below 30% maybe it’s time for Australia to reduce the corporate tax rate again.
Should Atheists be Evangelical…
… by which I mean should Athiests actively seek to convert God believers to non-belief?
I have recently read two books that were quite evangelical on this issue. They were in order of reading:-
“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.
“Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Both authors discuss the ways in which religious indoctrination creates a condition in which the mind is not free to pursue rational thought. Read more »
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