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REVEALED: The 30 American Companies That Paid Less Than $0 In Income Tax Over The Last 3 Years
Business Insider ^ | 11/05/2011 | Linette Lopez

Posted on 11/06/2011 11:11:45 AM PST by SeekAndFind

The corporate tax rate in the U.S. is 35%, but there aren't many companies that end up paying that amount. According to a study by the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the average tax rate of 280 S&P 500 companies investigated was 18.5% between 2008 and 2010.

Over 70 companies paid no taxes at all.

And then there were the 30 companies that paid less than nothing — we have those for you here.

But first, here's how they get away with it (from the report):

* Accelerated depreciation: "The tax laws generally allow companies to write off their capital investments considerably faster than the assets actually wear out. This “accelerated depreciation” is technically a tax deferral, but so long as a company continues to invest, the tax deferral tends to be indefinite."

* Stock options: Most big corporations give their executives (and sometimes other employees) options to buy the company’s stock at a favorable price in the future. When those options are exercised, companies can take a tax deduction for the difference between what the employees pay for the stock and what it’s worth (while employees report this difference as taxable wages).

Paying executives with options took off in the mid-1990s, in part because this kind of compensation was exempt from a law enacted in 1993 that tried to reduce income inequality by limiting corporate deductions for executive pay to $1 million per executive.

* Industry-specific tax breaks. The federal tax code also provides tax subsidies to companies that engage in certain activities.

* Offshore tax sheltering: Over the past decade or so, corporations and their accounting firms have become increasingly aggressive in seeking ways to shift their U.S. profits, on paper, into offshore tax havens,

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: companies; corporatetaxes; taxes

1 posted on 11/06/2011 11:11:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

NOTICE AS YOU LOOK AT THE LIST:

Most of these countries happen to be in energy.

Which explains the special HATE Energy companies are receiving from Dems in Congress.

But then I don’t see the Number 1 villain: EXXON on the list.


2 posted on 11/06/2011 11:14:11 AM PST by SeekAndFind (u)
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To: SeekAndFind

30 down, a few million to go.


3 posted on 11/06/2011 11:14:48 AM PST by Raycpa
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To: SeekAndFind
Bookmark. I'm going to come back once some energetic Freeper has figured out how much political money these corporations have given to the two parties.

My guess is both got lots - and Democrats got more.

4 posted on 11/06/2011 11:15:48 AM PST by airborne (Paratroopers! Good to the last drop!)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Which explains the special HATE Energy companies are receiving from Dems in Congress.”

No company “pays” income tax, or any tax. Never. Their customer’s pay the tax in terms of higher prices on the products. The equation is: Expenses + Profit = price. Taxes are an “expense.” If the expenses go up, the price goes up. The profit is whatever the market will bear. If we lower the taxes to zero then American companies can better compete with foreign companies who are government subsidized. We buy the products cheaper. We consumers will have more money in our pockets.


5 posted on 11/06/2011 11:23:46 AM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: SeekAndFind

Company list of Tax Skips

Corning
DTE Energy
Honeywell International
Mattel
El Paso Corporation
Wells Fargo
Boeing
Navistar International
NextEra Energy
CMS Energy
Interpublic Group
Verizon Communications
Consolidated Edison
DuPont
Duke Energy
Wisconsin Energy
Baxter International
Ryder System
Con-way
American Electric Power
Integrys Energy Group
Atmos Energy
Tenet Healthcare
CenterPoint Energy
NiSource
Computer Sciences Corp
PG&E Corp.
Paccar
General Electric
Pepco Holdings


6 posted on 11/06/2011 11:24:13 AM PST by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: airborne

This will get you started.

http://www.followthemoney.org/database/nationalview.phtml

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list_stfed.php?order=A

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=corporate%20contributions%20to%20politicians%20info&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CGIQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffollowthemoney.org%2F&ei=kNy2TueUNan9iQLhytVW&usg=AFQjCNFrs6HeLYLMJD7IiKCX7nMv9H6FZQ&cad=rja


7 posted on 11/06/2011 11:31:58 AM PST by bigheadfred (wogga wogga)
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To: SeekAndFind
At least these companies provide jobs.

I'm far more concerned with teh 47% Americans who pay no income tax, yet suck up government services.

8 posted on 11/06/2011 11:43:28 AM PST by skeeter
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To: Gen.Blather

You are correct. Individual taxpayers pay for everything.


9 posted on 11/06/2011 11:46:19 AM PST by ops33 (Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired))
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To: SeekAndFind
Accelerated Depreciation: the gift of a tax loophole or Congress' way of "stimulating" the economy by encouraging corporations to purchase capital goods? To claim the benefit, there must be a capital outlay. I'd say that any dollar that went into the economy instead of the gaping gubermint maw is not a bad thing.

Stock Options: a deduction for the corporation but dollar for dollar taxable to the recipient. Sounds like a wash to me.

Industry-specific tax breaks? Again, Congress using the tax code as a means of control. Do you Fair Taxers honestly think passing the FT via legislation will thwart Congress' propensity to use tax laws exert control?

10 posted on 11/06/2011 11:53:08 AM PST by NonValueAdded (At 4 AM, it is a test; at 2 PM, it is a demonstration)
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To: SeekAndFind

Corporate income tax should be abolished. Those costs are just passed on to the consumer.


11 posted on 11/06/2011 12:33:23 PM PST by SVTCobra03 (You can never have enough friends, horsepower or ammunition.)
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To: NonValueAdded

“Do you Fair Taxers honestly think passing the FT via legislation will thwart Congress’ propensity to use tax laws exert control?”

That’s a ridiculous question. Congress’ inclination to use tax laws (and all the others) to exert control is independent of the mechanism of taxation. Flat taxes, income taxes, VAT’s, and yes, even the Fair Tax would be subject to the same insidious creeping legislation.

However, by migrating to a consumption tax, the electorate has a much better tool at their disposal to ‘strike back’ at the ‘tweaks’. Don’t spend...

In addition, the work toward a balanced budget amendment and capping governmental expenditures as a percentage of GDP, along with a switch to Zero-based budgeting using near term historical data (rather than the pie-in-the-sky projections used currently) must be pursued as components of overall fiscal reform is the US is to regain its future.


12 posted on 11/06/2011 12:46:02 PM PST by PubliusMM (RKBA; a matter of fact, not opinion. 01-20-2013: Change we can look forward to.)
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To: SandRat

These companies lawfully minimized their tax liabilities. They did not “skip” on paying their taxes. As a shareholder in most of these companies (via mutual funds), I applaud them on their wise accounting to minimize their tax burdens and maximize shareholder value rather than maximize wasteful payments to the damn, bloated federal government. Not one company in the US is incurring $4 billion per DAY of debt it cannot repay.

If we as a country want all companies to pay taxes, then simply have Congress rewrite the tax laws that are described in the article. But be prepared for more companies to leave the US and take their jobs with them


13 posted on 11/06/2011 12:51:35 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: SeekAndFind

Fantastic planning!


14 posted on 11/06/2011 1:00:01 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (You know, 99.99999965% of the lawyers give all of them a bad name)
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To: Gen.Blather

What these articles never do... is accurately describing the entire situation.
I worked for 16 years as European Manager in Europe and had to file my American Taxes each tear. ( By the way we are the only country that demands Tax returns from it’s citizens maintaining a permanent residence outside the country)
Most American Companies doing substantial business overseas start companies in those countries because bit is more efficient and cheaper than exporting from here. No import duties, shipping marketing,etc,etc. Just like even more foreign companies manufacture here, see the Auto Industry.
As far as taxes are concerned, the primary tax obligation is to the country of manufacture,not of ownership. Example: If I manufacture a product in Germany, my primary obligation is to adhere to the German law as well as their Tax laws. Under international Treaty, which we are signatory to, I will (have to) file my American Taxes and I am given a Tax credit of German Taxes paid directly against my American Taxes. IT IS NOT A WRITE OFF,BUT A CREDIT.
That’s the Law.
It amuses me all the time is that many want to have everything manufactured in this country by American companies. However, they would be the fist ones to complain about the high prices. Forget the fact that our American companies could not market (sell)their products overseas for the same reason. Most of those companie’s profits come via foreign business. I could go on and on


15 posted on 11/06/2011 1:11:22 PM PST by americanbychoice3
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To: bigheadfred

bttt


16 posted on 11/06/2011 1:20:50 PM PST by Matchett-PI ("A Republican Larry Flynt should wave around $50,000 for proof of sexual harassment at Politico" -RL)
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To: americanbychoice3
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post, but I think maybe your German vs. American scenario is backwards. If I'm an American company doing business overseas (in Germany, for example), I must first file my German tax return and pay German taxes on my income in Germany. Then, I file my U.S. tax return, compute my U.S. tax obligation, and take a credit against my U.S. tax obligation for what I have already paid in Germany.

Maybe this is what you've said already, so I apologize if I misunderstood. This gets awfully complex, doesn't it?

17 posted on 11/06/2011 1:49:36 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested.")
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To: SeekAndFind

No corporation actually pays taxes.. Their consumers do.


18 posted on 11/06/2011 1:50:11 PM PST by TASMANIANRED (We kneel to no prince but the Prince of Peace)
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To: SandRat

I agree with GenBlather. The business tax should be 0. Companies do not pay taxes; people do. When gov takes $ from a business, that business either chargers customers more, pays employees less, hires fewer people, or is unable to expand/improve its business as much as it could otherwise.

People who cheer for higher taxes on businesses are really cheering for paying more themselves.


19 posted on 11/06/2011 11:05:01 PM PST by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Alberta's Child

you are correct, no other country demands a citizen to file taxes while living outside their juristiction.


20 posted on 11/07/2011 7:54:05 AM PST by americanbychoice3
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