excess profits tax


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excess profits tax,

levy on any profit above a standard level. Chiefly a wartime phenomenon, it is intended to increase revenue during periods of distress and to prevent businessmen from taking unfair advantage of the increased government spending and consumer demand that normally accompany wars. In 1917 the U.S. federal government adopted such a tax, which continued in various forms and at increasing rates until 1921. It was revived by federal legislation during World War II and during the Korean War. The tax was imposed on the excess over a firm's peacetime earnings or over an arbitrarily decreed earning rate. Great Britain levied an excess profits tax from 1915 to 1921, with a rate varying from 40% to 80%. During the era of World War II, Britain's excess profits tax was revived, with tax rates increased to 100%. Critics contend that such levies discourage productive enterprise by eliminating the profit motive.
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at 1905 (characterizing British excess profits tax as income tax under U.S.
Tax law - U.K. windfall tax constitutes U.S. income tax under I.R.C. 901(b)(1) - PPL Corp. v. Commissioner
In effect, the tax is equal to 51.71% of the total profits that exceed 44.47% of the flotation value, which meets the general understanding of an excess profits tax (that is, a tax on profits above the deemed normal level of return; here a normal return equals 44.47% of the flotation value).
The creditability of foreign taxes: form vs. substance
Under IRC sections 901(a) and (b)(1), a domestic corporation may offset its federal income tax liability using a foreign tax credit in "the amount of any income, war profits, and excess profits taxes paid or accrued during the taxable year to any foreign country." Treasury Regulations section 1.901-2(a) provides that a foreign levy is an income tax if (and only if) it is a tax and its predominant character is that of an income tax in the United States.
The creditability of foreign taxes: supreme court decides on British windfall profits tax
[11] An excess profits tax was also in effect from July 1950 through
Table 24. U.S. corporation income tax: tax brackets and rates, 1909-2011
An excess profits tax would act as a charge on bank cashflow - thought to be a way to raise significant amounts without distorting the financial system.
THE International Monetary Fund are [...]; Business IN BRIEF
Newspaper reports said an excess profits tax would effectively act as a charge on bank cashflow - thought to be a way to raise significant amounts from banks without distorting the financial system.
Banks face tax scheme
The excess profits tax and the wartime hikes in corporate income tax rates were considered serious threats to the economy's postwar recovery.
The rise and fall of post-world War II corporate tax reform
A licence fee or excess profits tax also had disadvantages, the commission acknowledged.
Banking on tough measures ahead
The Coalition also supports the idea, as set out in the Alternative Federal Budget, that the government's current surtax on financial institutions be increased and established as excess profits tax. Such an increase was also recommended by the Mintz Committee on Corporate Taxation and would increase the surtax amount collected from the current $65 million to between $350 million and $500 million annually.
Bank tax freedom day
A large range of taxes applies to royalty/tax agreements, of which the most important are income tax at 30%, and an excess profits tax levied at a rate agreed in individual contracts, based on the project's real rate of return.
Contractual and Fiscal Development: The Caspian States
Some 300 years later -- after France's fall to Nazi Germany but before Pearl Harbor -- Franklin Roosevelt was unable to persuade Congress to enact legislation stipulating that "no corporation be allowed to escape excess profits tax liability on any profits that exceeded 10 percent of invested capital." Vivid memories of profiteering during World War I notwithstanding, his defeat came at the hands of Southern conservatives in the House and Senate who chose to protect the high prewar profits of the tobacco industry and Coca-Cola.
Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America
Wartime innovations such as the excess profits tax and specialized forms of cost accounting gave rise to an important specialist practice in taxation.
True and Fair: A History of Price Waterhouse

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