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By employing a plethora of tax-dodging techniques, 30 multi-million dollar American corporations expended more money lobbying Congress than they paid in federal income taxes between 2008 and 2010, ultimately spending approximately $400,000 every day -- including weekends -- during that three-year period to lobby lawmakers and influence political elections, according to a new report from the non-partisan Public Campaign....

Many Wall Street Occupiers are echoing the Communist Party USA's call to "Save the nation! Tax corporations! Tax the rich!" There are other Americans, on both the left and the right — President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, for example — who call for reductions in corporate taxes. But the University of California at Berkeley's pretend economist Robert Reich disagrees, saying, "The economy needs two whopping corporate tax cuts right now as much as someone with a serious heart condition needs Botox." Let's look at corporate taxes and ask, "Who pays them?" Virginia has a car tax. Does the...

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...

(Reuters) - The CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other major U.S. employers told Congress on Wednesday they would be willing to give up tax breaks that benefit their companies in return for a steep drop in the country's 35 percent corporate tax rate.

<p>Japan's government announced it would cut the country's hefty corporate tax rate by 5 percentage points, in a bid to stimulate the economy and help Japanese businesses stay competitive.</p> <p>The step announced late Monday is aimed at promoting investment, employment and salary increases at home so that Japan can exit deflation, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said.</p>

U.S. Cannot Encourage Job Creation with Second-Highest Corporate Tax Rate Among Industrialized Nations, Scott Hodge Says...

High corporate income taxes are often justified by the rhetoric that businesses—and their high-income investors—should "pay their fair share." In Tax Foundation Special Report No. 169, "The Corporate Income Tax and Workers' Wages: New Evidence from the 50 States," Senior Fellow Robert Carroll, Ph.D., finds that states with high corporate income taxes have likely depressed their workers' wages over the long term, while states with low corporate taxes have boosted worker productivity and real wages. "These findings are not only consistent with a growing body of research on international corporate income taxes and wages, but they get to the heart...

A small furniture manufacturer based in Arizona recently received a nexus survey — a questionnaire about the company's business activity — from the state of Washington. With just two retail customers in the Evergreen State and a lone sales rep making an annual visit there, the Arizona company returned the form and thought that was the end of the matter. No such luck. Washington assessed the Arizona furniture anufacturer "a substantial income tax," according to Marvin Kirsner, a tax attorney with Greenberg Traurig who represents the company. "One salesperson was there for a total of three days over four years....

The problem was the first chart in the report. It showed that 60 percent to 70 percent of companies in the U.S. pay no taxes. That led to an Associated Press story with the startling headline, ``Most Companies in U.S. Avoid Federal Income Taxes,'' and to a frenzy of business bashing by leading Democrats. Byron Dorgan, the Democratic senator from North Dakota, said in a statement, ``It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country.'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi piled on, arguing that the data revealed a fundamental unfairness in the U.S. system,...

A humorous new Tax Foundation YouTube video titled "Dream Job" addresses the problem of the United States' high corporate tax rate. While Americans pay close attention to individual tax rates, many tune out when the conversation turns to business taxes. This is a mistake. The tax climate for business should be important to all Americans, regardless of whether they actually own businesses themselves. Businesses pass their tax burdens on to their customers, employees, and shareholders. In fact, Tax Foundation research shows that in 2005 the average household paid $2,757 in business taxes.

The German government's purchase of data stolen from a Liechtenstein bank has reinvigorated longstanding debates about privacy, law enforcement and international relations. Much of the fallout has followed predictable patterns. Some argue that Germany's richest citizens should be brought to justice for failing to comply with the tax laws, while others point out that it is unseemly for a nation to spy on a peaceful neighbor. The conflict between Germany and Liechtenstein also has triggered a broader debate about tax competition and the role of so-called tax havens. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is trying to use...

Ireland's economic success is no secret. The "Celtic Tiger" economy has achieved almost mythical status. Ireland's fortunes have been transformed, and the rest of the world has sat up and watched with interest. Unsurprisingly, many countries have flown delegations to Dublin to find out how it has been done. And Ireland, a place renowned for the warmth of its welcome, has opened the door to those inquisitive visitors. One government official recounts the story of how officials from the Baltic states still refer back to a trip they made in 2004 with great fondness. The current Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern,...

EUROPE IS BEATING THE UNITED STATES AT WHAT? YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT? For those of you who have dedicated your leisure time and thoughts to American Idol, this will mean absolutely nothing to you. Thankfully most of the people who listen to the show and read Nealz Nuze care about more things than whether or not that weird kid is going to ruin the competition. There was an amazing story yesterday that got absolutely no traction whatsoever, though it should have. The Financial Times reported that for the first time since before World War I ... that's World War I, not...

The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, Eoin O'Driscoll, has called on all political parties to put the retention of Ireland's 12.5% corporation tax rate at the heart of their policies. He told the chamber's annual Thanksgiving lunch that investors needed certainty on the issue. 'Any suggestion that our rate of corporation tax may be coming under threat internally, not to mind at EU level, will only serve to undermine those who are working to attract further investment in the country,' he said. His defence of the tax rate follows recent reported concerns in the US about...

...I will suggest to my colleagues at the summit a program called "Seven Chances for the Internal Market." • First, all EU consumers must be able, by mid-2007, to freely choose their electricity and energy providers, as is the case in Germany since 1998. This will intensify cross-border competition, benefit consumers and industries by providing cheaper energy and stimulate economic activity across the board. • Second, we must continue to ensure the stability and growth of European financial markets. We also have to increase the global competitiveness of EU financial institutions. The supervision of the financial sector should be practical...

Google Inc founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have said that some new features on the world's top search engine and other services will come from its research centre in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where they are on a hiring spree. "One approach we are taking is that Bangalore is where we run a mirror exactly of what we have in the United States in terms of development," Brin told reporters in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state. Page and Brin said they were visiting India looking for "extraordinary talented entrepreneurial people who want to make a big...

Most American and foreign corporations operating in the United States paid no income tax between 1996 and 2000, government auditors said Friday. Using data collected by the Internal Revenue Service, the auditors found that 71 percent of foreign corporations paid no federal income tax. During the same time, 61 percent of American corporations paid no income tax. Companies might not pay taxes in a year because they lose money or carry forward operating losses from previous years. New companies often owe no tax because their expenses are higher than those of more mature companies.

<p>The United States imposes on its businesses and workers one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world. In addition to this high tax rate, rising health care costs, virtually unlimited liability exposure and the outdated manner in which U.S. businesses are taxed on their worldwide income have combined to put American companies and American workers in a dangerously uncompetitive position.</p>

While this idealogical story is certainly not detailed enough to describe the full impact on political meddling with business, it's merely here to give some a basic idea on why conservatives are anti-union and anti-corporate taxes. This is for conservative Democrats who support unions and corporate taxes and don't understand the other side of the story: An Illinois lemonade stand is competing against an Ohio lemonade stand. Both have 5 employees each who earn $1 each and sell a total of 5 glasses of lemonade total per hour (1 employee make 1 glass per hour) at $2 a glass for...