GE Rebuffs Tax Refund Report as 'Hoax' Stock Skid

[FireFly]

Fake GE Press Release that duped Associated Press: GE Responds to Public Outcry – Will Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund to Help Offset Cuts and Save American Jobs

Jeffrey Immelt has informed the Obama administration that the company will be gifting its entire 2010 tax refund, worth $3.2 Billion, to the US Treasury on April 18, Tax Day, and will furthermore adopt a host of new policies that secure its position as a leader in corporate social responsibility...

In tandem with the gift, the company is also announcing a host of new policies to restore public faith in the GE brand, including a commitment to keep American jobs in America, and to create one U.S. job for each new job created abroad. The ambitious plan will overhaul accounting systems to allow public transparency and phase out the use of tax havens in five years. “Given my recent appointment as President Obama’s Chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, it is no longer appropriate for GE to engage in practices that, whether by fact or perception, are at odds with the greater good of the nation," Immelt said.

GE Rebuffs Tax Refund Report as 'Hoax'

General Electric called an earlier media report Wednesday that it would repay a $3.2 billion tax refund to the Treasury Department a "hoax."

Members of an activist group calling themselves the "Yes Men" claimed responsibility for the hoax, according to a report from Reuters.

Earlier Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. conglomerate — using "a series of foreign tax havens" — would repay the "enormous" refund it received for the 2010 tax year.

Shares of GE, slipped on the AP report. The company has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks following a New York Times report that it would pay no taxes for the 2010 tax year.

"It's a hoax and GE did not receive a refund," said Deirdre Latour, a GE spokeswoman.

Chief Executive Jeff Immelt in a March speech in Washington acknowledged that the company tries to keep its tax bill as low as it can but said it does so legally.

"Our tax rate will be higher in 2011," Immelt told the Washington Economic Club. "We do it in a compliant way. There are no exceptions."

The "Yes Men" sent the release to draw attention to GE's approach to taxes, according to Andrew Boyd who described himself in a phone interview with Reuters as a member of the group.

"This is unpatriotic, it's undemocratic, it's unfair," Boyd said. "It might be legal but it's immoral."