Thursday, June 20, 2024

Supremes uphold tax on foreign income

There's a consensus that the rich haven't been paying their fair share in taxes. One of few good things in the otherwise miserable Trump tax law of 2017 is a onetime tax on dividends made by shareholders in foreign companies. Before that tax was enacted, companies could dodge American taxes by parking their profits outside the country.

A couple in Washington state launched a bizarre court challenge against that tax after they had to pay taxes on their investments in India. They said the tax was unconstitutional under the Sixteenth Amendment. This is ridiculous because the Sixteenth Amendment specifically authorizes an income tax.

After losing in lower courts, they took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supremes have now ruled 7-2 against them. Right-wing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas were the only dissenters.

The lawsuit was actually frivolous. I remember when the far right accused everyone of filing frivolous suits, but this is about as frivolous as it gets - with the exception of well-funded suits filed against state governments and schools by those claiming COVID restrictions weren't draconian enough.

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