Bill Gates Pay Your Fair Share Of Taxes Like We Do

Bill Gates and other wealthy individuals around the world do pay taxes--but usually at rates far below what most taxpayers pay. As Warren Buffet says, his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does on his multi-million dollar income. And most big corporations have mastered the art of paying next to nothing in taxes. Many experts and financial journalists dismiss the idea that higher taxes for rich people and large corporations would make a difference to government revenues. Even Bill Gates's personal fortune wouldn't make a dent in the huge US government deficit. But Harvard-trained economist and tax expert Brigitte Alepin has a different point of view. Relying on her in-depth knowledge of tax systems in Canada, the US, France, and elsewhere, Alepin provides a behind-the-scenes explanation of what has happened to create a massive gap in government revenues. Over the last twenty years, large corporations, the super-rich, and private foundations have found many ways and means to avoid being taxed. This black hole in government revenues-found in virtually every country-accounts for trillions of dollars in lost revenue every year. As Alepin demonstrates using data drawn from leading international organizations, those missing trillions would go a long way towards allowing the world's governments to balance their books. Collecting taxes from big corporations and the super-rich cannot be done by any one country alone. But with governments of all political stripes facing this common problem, there are concrete steps they can take together to address it. Ensuring that wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share in taxes would not result in ruinously high rates. Instead, it would mean that the super-rich and corporations would pay their fair share of taxes at rates that would reflect their true ability to pay. Brigitte Alepin shows how a fair tax system for Bill Gates and for the world's richest individuals and corporations can be the answer to the financial crisis the world faces today.

Where to find the trillions governments need to end the world's economic crisis

For the past 20 years, corporations have been receiving huge tax breaks and subsidies in the name of "jobs, jobs, jobs." But, as Greg LeRoy demonstrates in this important new book, it's become a costly scam. Playing states and communities off against each other in a bidding war for jobs, corporations reduce their taxes to next-to-nothing and win subsidy packages that routinely exceed $100,000 per job. But the subsidies come with few strings attached. So companies feel free to provide fewer jobs, or none at all, or even outsource and lay people off. They are also free to pay poverty wages without health care or other benefits. All too often, communities lose twice. They lose jobs--or gain jobs so low-paying they do nothing to help the community--and lose revenue due to the huge corporate tax breaks. That means fewer resources for maintaining schools, public services, and infrastructure. In the end, the local governments that were hoping for economic revitalization are actually worse off. They're forced to raise taxes on struggling small businesses and working families, or reduce services, or both. Greg LeRoy uses up-to-the-minute examples, naming names--including Wal-Mart, Raytheon, Fidelity, Bank of America, Dell, and Boeing--to reveal how the process works. He shows how carefully corporations orchestrate the bidding wars between states and communities. He exposes shadowy "site location consultants" who play both sides against the middle, and he dissects government and corporate mumbo-jumbo with plain talk. The book concludes by offering common-sense reforms that will give taxpayers powerful new tools to deter future abuses and redirect taxpayer investments in ways that will really pay off.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)