2/3 of US Corporations Pay No Income Tax

[Immanuel]

You Have More Money in Your Wallet Than Bank of America Pays in Federal Taxes:

"But it wasn’t teachers, fire fighters, policemen, and college students that caused the economic recession that has devastated government budgets — it was Wall Street.

"And as middle class workers are being asked to sacrifice, the rich continue to rig the system, dodging taxes and avoiding paying their fair share.

"In an interview with In These Times, Carl Gibson, the founder of US Uncut, which is organizing some of today’s UK-inspired massive demonstrations against tax dodgers, explains that while ordinary Americans are being asked to sacrifice, major corporations continue to use the rigged tax code to avoid paying any federal taxes at all.

"As he says, if you have 'one dollar' in your wallet, you’re paying more than the 'combined income tax liability of GE, ExxonMobil, Citibank, and the Bank of America'“

ThinkProgress>>

You and ThinkProgress make it sound as if BofA never pays any taxes. Funny thing is that a quick look at the financial statements of said company shows that to be incorrect.

BAC Income Statement | Bank of America Corporation Com Stock - Yahoo! Finance


Bank of America, Wells Fargo might not pay federal taxes for 2009 | McClatchy

"Oh, yeah, this happens all the time," said Robert Willens, an expert on tax accounting who runs a New York firm with the same name. "Especially now, with companies suffering such severe losses."

In 2007 and 2008 BofA paid their share of taxes, nearly $6.5 Billion. In 2009, they had some kind of adjustment that affected their tax situation which allowed them to regain nearly $2 Billion of that. I did not bother to look for what that adjustment was.

Obviously, ThinkProgress wanted its readers to get the picture that large corporations do not pay income taxes. They expected people just to take their word for it. I am certain that for what ever reason BofA took that adjustment it was legal to do so and I highly doubt there was anything illegal in their actions.

I would not hesitate that guess that you and I and everyone else reading this thread, do our best to legally reduce our taxes year by year... yet ThinkProgress seems to want to make BofA and other corporate giants out to be evil based on one year's tax filings that most likely were completely legitimate

Most corporations are small and can legally reduce their tax liability to nothing or almost nothing. The larger ones such as BofA, Wells Fargo, GM, Exxon etc. etc. etc. need extraordinary occurrences to do so and then when they enter those situations they are portrayed as villains.

Immie

 

[jeffrockit]

Yep, nearly 2/3 of US corporations and 68% of foreign corporation pay no federal income tax.

Enjoying record profits and taxpayer-funded bailouts as the economy slowly recovers from a financial crisis, nearly two-thirds of US corporations don't pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens. Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America and Citigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam. Tax havens alone account for up to $1 trillion in tax revenue lost every decade, money that could be invested in K-12 education, colleges, public health, job creation and hundreds of other worthy public programs.

But this is not good enough for the GOP. They are urging Obama to seek further corporate tax cuts while cutting 60 billion dollars out of education and programs that serve the poorest of the poor.

Majority of corporations avoid federal income taxes - study - Aug. 12, 2008
US Uncut

No corps pay taxes...they pass the cost on to the consumer. While the left's non stop mantra is to raise corp taxes, the end result is higher prices for the consumer which is mostly middle class. The drumbeat to raise their taxes comes from those that do not understand this.

 

[kaz]

No corps pay taxes...they pass the cost on to the consumer. While the left's non stop mantra is to raise corp taxes, the end result is higher prices for the consumer which is mostly middle class. The drumbeat to raise their taxes comes from those that do not understand this.

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! You are completely correct. Everyone understands that when the price of steel goes up, the price of products made from steel go up too and that is paid by consumers. Only a liberal could believe that when taxes go up the price of the product doesn't and the tax is paid by the company.

Liberals, can't live with them, can't kill them. So, you just gotta have some fun with that level of stupidity and try not to think about how our government is based on it.

 

[georgephillip]

You Have More Money in Your Wallet Than Bank of America Pays in Federal Taxes:

"But it wasn’t teachers, fire fighters, policemen, and college students that caused the economic recession that has devastated government budgets — it was Wall Street.

"And as middle class workers are being asked to sacrifice, the rich continue to rig the system, dodging taxes and avoiding paying their fair share.

"In an interview with In These Times, Carl Gibson, the founder of US Uncut, which is organizing some of today’s UK-inspired massive demonstrations against tax dodgers, explains that while ordinary Americans are being asked to sacrifice, major corporations continue to use the rigged tax code to avoid paying any federal taxes at all.

"As he says, if you have 'one dollar' in your wallet, you’re paying more than the 'combined income tax liability of GE, ExxonMobil, Citibank, and the Bank of America'“

ThinkProgress>>

You and ThinkProgress make it sound as if BofA never pays any taxes. Funny thing is that a quick look at the financial statements of said company shows that to be incorrect.

BAC Income Statement | Bank of America Corporation Com Stock - Yahoo! Finance


Bank of America, Wells Fargo might not pay federal taxes for 2009 | McClatchy

"Oh, yeah, this happens all the time," said Robert Willens, an expert on tax accounting who runs a New York firm with the same name. "Especially now, with companies suffering such severe losses."

In 2007 and 2008 BofA paid their share of taxes, nearly $6.5 Billion. In 2009, they had some kind of adjustment that affected their tax situation which allowed them to regain nearly $2 Billion of that. I did not bother to look for what that adjustment was.

Obviously, ThinkProgress wanted its readers to get the picture that large corporations do not pay income taxes. They expected people just to take their word for it. I am certain that for what ever reason BofA took that adjustment it was legal to do so and I highly doubt there was anything illegal in their actions.

I would not hesitate that guess that you and I and everyone else reading this thread, do our best to legally reduce our taxes year by year... yet ThinkProgress seems to want to make BofA and other corporate giants out to be evil based on one year's tax filings that most likely were completely legitimate

Most corporations are small and can legally reduce their tax liability to nothing or almost nothing. The larger ones such as BofA, Wells Fargo, GM, Exxon etc. etc. etc. need extraordinary occurrences to do so and then when they enter those situations they are portrayed as villains.

Immie

ThinkProgress limits its observation to Bof A's 2009 income tax liability. A year the bank paid top execs between $6million and $30 million in total compensation, AND a year in which BofA would NOT even have existed without the US taxpayer.

"BANK OF AMERICA: In 2009, Bank of America didn’t pay a single penny in federal income taxes, exploiting the tax code so as to avoid paying its fair share. 'Oh, yeah, this happens all the time, said Robert Willens, a tax accounting expert interviewed by McClatchy. 'If you go out and try to make money and you don’t do it, why should the government pay you for your losses?' asked Bob McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice. The same year, the mega-bank’s top executives received pay 'ranging from $6 million to nearly $30 million.'”

Why should the government cover Bank of America's losses?

 

[Gadawg73]

the truth is out of the 600,000 new corp's set up each and every year, 400,000 are non employee corp's that are used to hide money or move profit to a better place for tax purpose.
There are like 1,200,000 people who get an average 60,000.00 dollare gain from the Bush tax cuts. Out of this 600,000 set up new businesses each year at an average out of pocket cost of 80,000. Out of those 600,000 only 200,000 employee any workers, they are set up for tax purpose.
But even then where are the other 600,000 people who get these tax cuts because they use the money to start companies and hire people doing? BUYING AIRPLANES, taking trips, hoarding the money?

Did you know YOU can start a corporation?
A great country or what?
If I earn my $ can't I hoard it or play with it or rub my johnson with it?
It is MY $$$.

 

[Gadawg73]

Government cons the dumasses on both sides of the aisle.

 

[kaz]

Yes, yes it does

 

[georgephillip]

Wall Street OWNS this government.

 

[Oddball]

2/3 of US Corporations Pay No Income Tax

Gee....If this is the case, it then might occur to the thinking person that there's an ulterior motive to corporate taxes.

It couldn't be.....just perhaps...that the real reason is that the corporate tax is a full-employment program for tax bureaucrats?

 

[hipeter924]

2/3 of US Corporations Pay No Income Tax

Gee....If this is the case, it then might occur to the thinking person that there's an ulterior motive to corporate taxes.

It couldn't be.....just perhaps...that the real reason is that the corporate tax is a full-employment program for tax bureaucrats?

I don't find this horrible at all, in fact this kind of tax evasion should be applauded, if every business went on revolt...and refused to pay imagine how many jobs the US could save and create next year. No wait....they have to give their profits to the government instead...well I guess they can create jobs next century when the US is bankrupt then.

PS: I just follow the 'insane' logic that lower costs increase profit, and more money would help improve the economy.

 

[Oddball]

Right....But it still takes bureaucrats to process the paperwork, which shows the corporation in question owes no taxes.

That's a net drain on the economy.

 

[hipeter924]

Right....But it still takes bureaucrats to process the paperwork, which shows the corporation in question owes no taxes.

That's a net drain on the economy.

Any way to dispose of both? How about a Boston Tax Party.

 

[Oddball]

I'm there, dude.

 

[georgephillip]

How about a Portland Tax Party?

"As a voice at the megaphone of the Portland protest said, 'The United States does not have a deficit problem. The United States has a revenue problem.'

"According to a 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office, 25 percent of the biggest corporations pay no federal income tax.

"B of A, the recipient of $45 billion in bailout funds, shuttles its would-be tax dollars into 115 offshore tax havens.

"Meanwhile, budget deficits are cited as justification for pay freezes for public workers and cuts to heating assistance programs, Social Security, and other social safety nets."

Don't borrow from the rich.
Tax the rich.

 

[Oddball]

B of A was forced to buy up Merrill Lynch and tax cuts don't "cost" anything, doofus.

 

[kaz]

Portland protest[/URL] said, 'The United States does not have a deficit problem. The United States has a revenue problem.'

The United States government has a spending other people's money problem

 

[georgephillip]

B of A was forced to buy up Merrill Lynch and tax cuts don't "cost" anything, doofus.

How much do budget deficits cost, Rich Bitch?

 

[georgephillip]

Portland protest[/URL] said, 'The United States does not have a deficit problem. The United States has a revenue problem.'

The United States government has a spending other people's money problem

Define "government"

 

[Oddball]

B of A was forced to buy up Merrill Lynch and tax cuts don't "cost" anything, doofus.

How much do budget deficits cost, Rich Bitch?

Deficits are caused by excess spending, fool.

 

[kaz]

Portland protest[/URL] said, 'The United States does not have a deficit problem. The United States has a revenue problem.'

The United States government has a spending other people's money problem

Define "government"

The Federal Government has the biggest one. But the State governments are pretty much right behind it. There are too many local governments to address.