[Retain Mike]

I have seen editorials applauding House Speaker Boehner for embracing the perpetual populist canard for eliminating oil-industry tax benefits, so they can begin to pay their fair share in taxes. The statement is false because corporations do not pay, but instead collect taxes from customers for government benefit. Corporations, partnerships, and individual proprietorships of any size prepare a budget where taxes are a cost of doing business. The final budget document given to managers to work from ends with after tax profit. This is a critically important number, at least because dividends are paid from after tax profits.

If in fact taxes cannot be passed to the customer, companies either leave the business or suffer an anemic presence compared to competitors. The first area to suffer is the capital budget and next is compensation, which means they are at a disadvantage in competing for people. A company like ExxonMobil has the sophistication and size to compare benefits available from a multitude of countries, and choose those maximizing the profitability for the next dollar invested. They would never continue investing money in a country where they paid taxes, and did not receive comparable sets of government benefits.

Editorials stating such things as “ExxonMobil this week reported first quarter profits of $10.7 billion – up nearly 70 percent from last year” should at least bemuse or amuse people. The profit is worldwide for the world’s largest company, with only one quarter of it coming in the U.S. Also, the profit margin was just over 9%, which of course does not help this typical editorial. It would also be useful to juxtapose General Electric, which in 2010 earned $14.2 billion, received $3.2 billion in benefits, and paid no U.S. taxes.

Excuse me. I should say we paid no taxes for our G.E. purchases, but did pay our fair share of their $3.2 billion in subsidies.

ExxonMobil profits up 69 per cent on high oil prices
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1635844.php/ExxonMobil-profits-up-69-per-cent-on-high-oil-prices

General Electric Paid No 2010 Income Taxes
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558

[mountn man]

http://www.gereports.com/setting-the-record-straight-ge-and-taxes

GE claims they paid $2.7 billion in taxes in ‘10 and paid $23 billion in the last 10 years.

[mountn man]

Editorials stating such things as “ExxonMobil this week reported first quarter profits of $10.7 billion – up nearly 70 percent from last year” should at least bemuse or amuse people. The profit is worldwide for the world’s largest company,

ExxonMobil IS NOT the worlds largest company, its not even the largest oil company. It IS NOT the largest employer of people in the US. Exxon has the largest GROSS profit, BUT NOT near the highest profit margin. In fact their profit margin is about average at best.

[Elsie]

General Electric Paid No 2010 Income Taxes

Most folks think that businesses pay taxes.

They don't.

It is just another cost of doing business that is ADDED into the PRICE of their product.

The CUSTOMERS (you and me) 'pay' the taxes: the business merely COLLECTS them for the gummint.