Friday, October 03, 2008

Delaware: The corporate tax haven of the USA

Another Joe Biden patriotic moment.

Say Joe, what was that about taxes being patriotic again?

Delaware is the country's corporate tax haven, with over half of its publicly held corporations registered there, including 58% of the Fortune 500. Corporations are attracted by Delaware's exemption from taxation of the subsidiaries of holding companies (so the holding-company headquarters are located in Delaware and the operating subsidiaries generally elsewhere). Financial institutions are attracted by its absence of usury limits. The fees paid by hundreds of thousands companies allow it to be one of five states with no sales tax. Combined state and local taxes in 2003 amounted to 7.3% of income, the 3rd smallest percentage in the US, ahead of only New Hampshire and Alaska. In Delaware's state tax revenues come primarily from levies on personal and corporate income, inheritance and estates, motor fuels, cigarettes, state lottery, and alcoholic beverages.

There's more here.