MOST Corporations pay NO US Income Taxes

[Care4all]

Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That's $27,000,000,000 per year, a number so large it's hard to comprehend. Here's one way to put Exxon's taxes into perspective.

According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:

Total number of tax returns: 130 million

Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million

Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion

Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion


Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).

Exxon's 2007 Tax Bill: $30 Billion - Seeking Alpha

they paid 30 billion, 7% in taxes of their GROSS revenue of $404 Billion....

when we figure what percentage we pay in taxes, it is on our gross revenue/income?

so apples to apples, 7% of their gross sales paid in taxes is not that bad....

i realize that companies can deduct everything from their cleaning service for their offices to big bonus checks to the ceo's, to sales meetings at luxurious hotels with spa treatments for everyone, all travel, benefits, all healthcare, salaries, electric bill, to heating bill etc....

and we as individuals do not get this ability...but when we figure what kind of tax percent we are paying, it is ALWAYS figured on our gross? why shouldn't it be the same with corporations? it would be comparing apples to apples imho!

 

[WillowTree]

Ok, THEN GIVE ME 1 EXAMPLE OF A TIME PERIOD WHEN TRICKLE DOWN WORKED, JUST 1.

What does your question have to do with taxing the corporations won't work? They will pass it on to you. And, failing that move they will just move overseas where they really don't pay taxes. Goodbye jobs. That's how trickle down works. No job, no money, no money bread line.

 

[Care4all]

What does your question have to do with taxing the corporations won't work? They will pass it on to you. And, failing that move they will just move overseas where they really don't pay taxes. Goodbye jobs. That's how trickle down works. No job, no money, no money bread line.

If they operate in the usa, even if they are foreign companies, they still have to pay taxes here in the usa....no?

 

[jschuck12001]

What does your question have to do with taxing the corporations won't work? They will pass it on to you. And, failing that move they will just move overseas where they really don't pay taxes. Goodbye jobs. That's how trickle down works. No job, no money, no money bread line.

Because the way we are taxing Corps now doesnt work. I have worked for 3 Large Banks in my career(currently with one now) and they all outsource like crazy. Your seem to be out of touch with Corp America or you would know this. I have posted several examples of the way Corps use offshore accts and tax loopholes to beat the system so saying that we will lose jobs in the future is crap because we are already losing thousands. The whole argument against taxing corps more is that they need that money to hire more people, which creates jobs, which employs the middle class, this is money flowing from the top to the bottom, thats a trickle down theory, this is a major talking point. Are you drinking Robitussin again?

 

[Care4all]

What does your question have to do with taxing the corporations won't work? They will pass it on to you. And, failing that move they will just move overseas where they really don't pay taxes. Goodbye jobs. That's how trickle down works. No job, no money, no money bread line.

Also, If I do not buy one thing that these corporations sell and get all my stuff by supporting the local economy, WHY SHOULD I have to pay the taxes that were due by the corporations according to law?

Meaning, if they raise the price of their goods to cover their taxes, and I don't buy any of their goods, then their taxes are not passed on to me, they are passed on to the people that buy their goods, similar to a consumption tax...those that buy the goods are paying the taxes...this is how it SHOULD BE....but as said, if i do not buy any of their goods, i will not be paying their taxes.... right?

 

[jschuck12001]

here you go

Here's the loophole:

...the ability to defer and often never pay taxes on foreign-earned profits. The result: foreign profits of U.S. companies end up taxed at a lower rate than their U.S. income, creating an incentive to invest overseas in factories. The jobs are where the factories are.

And here's how it works

The tax code is written in a way that allows companies not to pay the full 35% U.S. corporate tax rate on foreign income when that money remains invested overseas.

Backing up a step, here's how it works before the loophole: A company earns $100 million abroad in Lowtaxistan where the corporate tax rate is 20%. The foreign subsidiary pays that money to the U.S. parent. The parent then pays $35 million to the U.S. government and takes a credit for the 20% (or
$20 million) payment to the Lowtaxistan government. So the net to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is $15 million.

But here's how it works with the loophole: The U.S. subsidiary simply keeps the money offshore and certifies to its accountants that the money is invested overseas. It never remits the money to the parent and so never pays the $15 million extra to Uncle Sam.

 

[Care4all]

here you go

Here's the loophole:

...the ability to defer and often never pay taxes on foreign-earned profits. The result: foreign profits of U.S. companies end up taxed at a lower rate than their U.S. income, creating an incentive to invest overseas in factories. The jobs are where the factories are.

And here's how it works

The tax code is written in a way that allows companies not to pay the full 35% U.S. corporate tax rate on foreign income when that money remains invested overseas.

Backing up a step, here's how it works before the loophole: A company earns $100 million abroad in Lowtaxistan where the corporate tax rate is 20%. The foreign subsidiary pays that money to the U.S. parent. The parent then pays $35 million to the U.S. government and takes a credit for the 20% (or
$20 million) payment to the Lowtaxistan government. So the net to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is $15 million.

But here's how it works with the loophole: The U.S. subsidiary simply keeps the money offshore and certifies to its accountants that the money is invested overseas. It never remits the money to the parent and so never pays the $15 million extra to Uncle Sam.

ohhhhhhhhh, the ENRON loophole....I didn't realize that congress had not ever corrected it when they found out the last 3 years ENRON was in business, their MOST profitable years, they didn't pay a dime in taxes...?

 

[xsited1]

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes

excerpt --

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales, a government study released on Tuesday said.

The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

You don't pay income taxes if you don't have a positive income. Between 1998 and 2005, the economy went through numerous corrections, so 57% of US companies not paying taxes for at least 1 year sounds reasonable.

 

[jschuck12001]

You don't pay income taxes if you don't have a positive income. Between 1998 and 2005, the economy went through numerous corrections, so 57% of US companies not paying taxes for at least 1 year sounds reasonable.

Yes, and thats exactly why Obama's tax plan wont hurt small business even though the Republicans keep saying it will.

 

[xsited1]

Yes, and thats exactly why Obama's tax plan wont hurt small business even though the Republicans keep saying it will.

Huh? Tax increases on businesses of any kind will hurt the economy. You want the economy to be good so that corporations will make money and pay taxes. We already have the 2nd highest corporate tax rates in the industrial world. We don't need to give businesses yet another reason to move operations offshore.

 

[Care4all]

You don't pay income taxes if you don't have a positive income. Between 1998 and 2005, the economy went through numerous corrections, so 57% of US companies not paying taxes for at least 1 year sounds reasonable.

Too bad that isn't the case with us.....and we don't have all the legal deductions that corporations have so that we can get our gross down to zero....I know plenty of people that have ZERO when all said and done and come out with no profits or savings for themselves at the end of the year but STILL have to pay taxes...because we can not deduct all of our expenses such as electric and heat and water, snow plowing, grass cutting, house cleaning or our gasoline expense....like a corporation can....

I know it sounds silly...but this is what it boils down to....what can be duducted for us verses what can be deducted for companies...they get to deduct ALL of their expense to make it through the year, we do not....

in fact 65% of Americans only file the short form, because they do not have enough deductions to file the long form...

 

[jschuck12001]

Huh? Tax increases on businesses of any kind will hurt the economy. You want the economy to be good so that corporations will make money and pay taxes. We already have the 2nd highest corporate tax rates in the industrial world. We don't need to give businesses yet another reason to move operations offshore.

Your spinning it, what you posted previously is that many people write off everything and my point was that you are correct, I only say this because I have looked at about 1000 tax returns in my life and I would say that on about 70-80% of them the Net is not over $250k so they will NOT PAY HIGHER TAXES on Obama's plan.

 

[BlackAsCoal]

Too bad that isn't the case with us.....and we don't have all the legal deductions that corporations have so that we can get our gross down to zero....I know plenty of people that have ZERO when all said and done and come out with no profits or savings for themselves at the end of the year but STILL have to pay taxes...because we can not deduct all of our expenses such as electric and heat and water, snow plowing, grass cutting, house cleaning or our gasoline expense....like a corporation can....

I know it sounds silly...but this is what it boils down to....what can be duducted for us verses what can be deducted for companies...they get to deduct ALL of their expense to make it through the year, we do not....

in fact 65% of Americans only file the short form, because they do not have enough deductions to file the long form...

Absolutely correct sister.

Did you know that Thomas Jefferson thought freedom from corporations was a basic human right.

Simply amazing how intellectually deep Jefferson and Madison were.

 

[jschuck12001]

Too bad that isn't the case with us.....and we don't have all the legal deductions that corporations have so that we can get our gross down to zero....I know plenty of people that have ZERO when all said and done and come out with no profits or savings for themselves at the end of the year but STILL have to pay taxes...because we can not deduct all of our expenses such as electric and heat and water, snow plowing, grass cutting, house cleaning or our gasoline expense....like a corporation can....

I know it sounds silly...but this is what it boils down to....what can be duducted for us verses what can be deducted for companies...they get to deduct ALL of their expense to make it through the year, we do not....

in fact 65% of Americans only file the short form, because they do not have enough deductions to file the long form...

This depends on what you do for a living Care4all, I pissed alot of money away on taxes for years then started using an accountant from New Jersey that was an auditor for the IRS for 25 years. You should see someone, it could help you tremendously.

 

[xsited1]

Your spinning it, what you posted previously is that many people write off everything and my point was that you are correct, I only say this because I have looked at about 1000 tax returns in my life and I would say that on about 70-80% of them the Net is not over $250k so they will NOT PAY HIGHER TAXES on Obama's plan.

Talk about spin. I didn't say they wrote off everything. I said they didn't have a positive income. Since the economy has been in a great deal of flux between the time periods indicated, it is highly likely companies lost money. If they lose money, they don't pay taxes. Sure, they can write off various expenses as allowed by the IRS, but if the economy is poor, they could have a loss.

As far as Obama's plan goes, it is utterly ridiculous to raise taxes on businesses when we have the 2nd highest corporate tax rates in the world. He will kill an already sluggish economy if he puts his plan into effect.

 

[xsited1]

Too bad that isn't the case with us.....and we don't have all the legal deductions that corporations have so that we can get our gross down to zero....I know plenty of people that have ZERO when all said and done and come out with no profits or savings for themselves at the end of the year but STILL have to pay taxes...because we can not deduct all of our expenses such as electric and heat and water, snow plowing, grass cutting, house cleaning or our gasoline expense....like a corporation can....

I know it sounds silly...but this is what it boils down to....what can be duducted for us verses what can be deducted for companies...they get to deduct ALL of their expense to make it through the year, we do not....

in fact 65% of Americans only file the short form, because they do not have enough deductions to file the long form...

That is true, but that wasn't my point. The point is that 57% of corporations did not pay taxes for at least one year between the period 1998-2005. We had a recession during that time, so it's not surprising.

 

[jschuck12001]

Talk about spin. I didn't say they wrote off everything. I said they didn't have a positive income. Since the economy has been in a great deal of flux between the time periods indicated, it is highly likely companies lost money. If they lose money, they don't pay taxes. Sure, they can write off various expenses as allowed by the IRS, but if the economy is poor, they could have a loss.

As far as Obama's plan goes, it is utterly ridiculous to raise taxes on businesses when we have the 2nd highest corporate tax rates in the world. He will kill an already sluggish economy if he puts his plan into effect.

Ok, you dont get it, I spelled it out for you and you dont understand my point about Obama's tax plan.

 

[xsited1]

Ok, you dont get it, I spelled it out for you and you dont understand my point about Obama's tax plan.

I have looked at about 1000 tax returns in my life and I would say that on about 70-80% of them the Net is not over $250k so they will NOT PAY HIGHER TAXES on Obama's plan

Let's say you're right. What about the remaining 20-30%? Bad for America. Not good.

 

[jschuck12001]

Let's say you're right. What about the remaining 20-30%? Bad for America. Not good.

Well, it is what it is, those people arent having money issues so why not give a little more, I know they worked hard and its a little unfair but if its temporary and creates a little movement at the bottom then what the hell.

 

[WillowTree]

Your spinning it, what you posted previously is that many people write off everything and my point was that you are correct, I only say this because I have looked at about 1000 tax returns in my life and I would say that on about 70-80% of them the Net is not over $250k so they will NOT PAY HIGHER TAXES on Obama's plan.

And that's assuming he isn't lying to us.