Let's simplify out tax code

Kudos to Catherine Rampell and her column of Aug. 26. It was detailed and covered the dilemma concerning U.S. tax laws that is facing American businesses and their CEO's. As previously noted, these companies pay every dollar of taxes on profits earned in the U.S. based upon the current tax laws. Companies like Burger King will still do that, even if they move their headquarters to Canada. It is the profits earned outside the U.S. which are in question, and for the most part these are never taxed at U.S. rates even currently.

What is needed, as Rampell points out, is a closing of loopholes in current U.S. tax law and a reduction in the prevailing tax rate to a more country competitive rate. This can be made virtually revenue neutral to the U.S. government, making it virtually a flat tax, something that is needed at the personal level as well.

Rampell's comments on more public exposure to corporate profit and tax information is in a way incorrect or at least incomplete. The tax filings of publicly traded companies, larger than $10 million, are filed every year in both annual reports and 10K filings. These are available to anyone and typically are as large as 100 pages. Any other information required for tax purposes is supplied to the IRS. She is correct in one area, you had better be a CPA to get through the detail. This could all be reduced to 20 pages or less with closed loopholes and simplicity.

Richard Francke

Bartlett