RO: > I'm not sure I understand your question. A fundamental problem I am raising is > that because foreign gross product type data isn't caclulated, foreign profit > numbers are as reported by corps only, without the adjustments the BEA does to > have the numbers better refelect economic reality. . . . I'm saying even if you had these numbers, you wouldn't know where to cut them if the firm's operations (and implicitly its profits) were spread over multiple nations, including the U.S. > . . . > > In taxing multi-state corps, state governments don't even try to estimate > > profits > > by state; they use simple formulas to apportion them for tax purposes. > > You mean for a state income tax?. As I'm sure you know, corporate headquarters > are often in a different state (e.g., Delaware) than are their production and > sales. On what basis is the taxable revenue apportioned, if you know? Yes, state income tax. States use apportionment formulas based on some weighting of payroll, sales, and property in the taxing state. So if IBM's national profits are X, the taxing state's weighted share of the three factors applied to the company are is apportioned profits. mbs
