Top 26 Companies Paid No Tax from 2008-2012

[SayMyName]

The top corporations in America paid no tax from 2008-2012, and scores of others paid less than they were supposed to, according to report from Citizens for Tax Justice. The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes | Citizens for Tax Justice

They argue that it is for the good of the economy. If so, wouldn't our own escape from taxes fuel growth were we to have more in our pocket to spend?

Your thoughts?

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Presumedly, since they didn't it was legal. So the objection and problem isn't that they have better accountants than other companies, but that the tax code is screwed up. But when you look at the writers of tax laws (corporate lobbyists) the reason it's screwed up is better understood.

 

[Spiderman]

47% of all individuals paid zero federal income tax.

So what's your point?

 

[JimmieD]

The top corporations in America paid no tax from 2008-2012, and scores of others paid less than they were supposed to, according to report from Citizens for Tax Justice. The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes | Citizens for Tax Justice

They argue that it is for the good of the economy. If so, wouldn't our own escape from taxes fuel growth were we to have more in our pocket to spend?

Your thoughts?

I'm pretty suspicious of the source here. One of the companies they list is GE. However, GE's 2012 Annual Report indicates they paid income taxes to the tune of $3.2 Billion in 2012. Their income tax rates on consolidated earnings were 14.4% (2012), 28.3% (2011), and 7.3% (2010).

I'm not sure where your article is getting it's sources from, but they don't appear to be connected with what the companies are reporting.

Source: http://api40.10kwizard.com/cgi/conv...est=1&rid=23&section=1&sequence=-1&pdf=1&dn=1

 

[Rshermr]

The top corporations in America paid no tax from 2008-2012, and scores of others paid less than they were supposed to, according to report from Citizens for Tax Justice. The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes | Citizens for Tax Justice

They argue that it is for the good of the economy. If so, wouldn't our own escape from taxes fuel growth were we to have more in our pocket to spend?

Your thoughts?

I'm pretty suspicious of the source here. One of the companies they list is GE. However, GE's 2012 Annual Report indicates they paid income taxes to the tune of $3.2 Billion in 2012. Their income tax rates on consolidated earnings were 14.4% (2012), 28.3% (2011), and 7.3% (2010).

I'm not sure where your article is getting it's sources from, but they don't appear to be connected with what the companies are reporting.

Source: http://api40.10kwizard.com/cgi/conv...est=1&rid=23&section=1&sequence=-1&pdf=1&dn=1

Let me try to help you. GE is an international company. Someone is trying to be dishonest here. GE paid no taxes in the UNITED STATES. Instead they used methods to push profits to operations in other countries with lower or no taxes and paid income taxes there. Which is why you see taxes paid by GE. In the US, they often got back refunds.
So, if you care that they paid taxes in other countries, great. But their operations in this country were tax free.

For 2010, for example (bold added):

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

So you can make up your beliefs from whole cloth, or actually spend a bit of time out reading about it. From impartial sources. Up to you. But calling the citizens for tax justice a questionable source is stupid.

 

[DGS49]

A corporation is a fictitious person, created by the state at the request of investors, to protect the investors from individual responsibility for the torts and actions of enterprise. Without the possibility of creating a corporation, many businesses would simply not exist, as no investor would be willing to go into certain businesses and accept personal liability for the possible losses. Since it is a fictitious person, it makes no sense for a corporation to pay taxes, and indeed a very small percentage of corporations pay income taxes directly.

Most corporations are treated the same as partnerships (ref. Subchapter S of the IRC), and their profits are funnelled through the corporation to the owners, who pay taxes on an individual basis.

Corporations pay sales and use taxes, real estate taxes, excise taxes, government fees, levies, and assessments, just as a natural person would.

The existence of the corporate income tax is an economic aberration, made necessary by the need for politicians to cater to the ignorant desires of the overall population, which is incapable of rational thought. The more rational approach would be to have the corporate income tax rate be ZERO, but prohibit corporations from accumulating cash, thus requiring them to distribute profits to (a) investors in the form of taxable dividends and interest, (b) employees in the form of taxable wages and bonuses, (c) the corporation itself, for maintenance, repairs, and capital improvements or acquisitions.

The Internal Revenue Code provides for a veritable cornucopia of tax exclusions, exemptions, and deductions, each one of which represents Congress' desire to either promote some activity, grant a favor to some constituency, or punish something that Congress wants punished. The use of the IRC to do this economic and social engineering is a travesty, but it constitutes a good way of Congress soliciting contributions and buying votes, so it will never be purged of these abusive provisions.

In short, no, it doesn't bother me that some large corporations pay no Federal Income Tax.

 

[Avorysuds]

Business should pay 0 taxes... It actually makes no sense to tax a business.

 

[Rshermr]

By the way, you may want to look up Citizens United.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

WTF do electioneering advertisments have to with it?

 

[Rshermr]

WTF do electioneering advertisments have to with it?

Not the point, as you know. Turns out that corporations are now considered people. The fact that they have the right to speech, then, would say that they have the right to be taxed like the rest of us people.
Only you libertarians disagree.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

WTF do electioneering advertisments have to with it?

Not the point, as you know. Turns out that corporations are now considered people. The fact that they have the right to speech, then, would say that they have the right to be taxed like the rest of us people.
Only you libertarians disagree.

Swing and a miss.

No libertarian that I am acquianted with, or listen to believes corporations are people. At the same time, they would also likely argue that taxation is theft, so most aren't really giving very many fucks if corporations do not pay an income tax. That's at least, my position and experience. I'm sure YOU LOLberals have an entirely different construct in how you perceive the group of individuals you try to blanket collectively.

 

[Iceweasel]

A corporation is a fictitious person, created by the state at the request of investors, to protect the investors from individual responsibility for the torts and actions of enterprise. Without the possibility of creating a corporation, many businesses would simply not exist, as no investor would be willing to go into certain businesses and accept personal liability for the possible losses. Since it is a fictitious person, it makes no sense for a corporation to pay taxes, and indeed a very small percentage of corporations pay income taxes directly.

Most corporations are treated the same as partnerships (ref. Subchapter S of the IRC), and their profits are funnelled through the corporation to the owners, who pay taxes on an individual basis.

Corporations pay sales and use taxes, real estate taxes, excise taxes, government fees, levies, and assessments, just as a natural person would.

The existence of the corporate income tax is an economic aberration, made necessary by the need for politicians to cater to the ignorant desires of the overall population, which is incapable of rational thought. The more rational approach would be to have the corporate income tax rate be ZERO, but prohibit corporations from accumulating cash, thus requiring them to distribute profits to (a) investors in the form of taxable dividends and interest, (b) employees in the form of taxable wages and bonuses, (c) the corporation itself, for maintenance, repairs, and capital improvements or acquisitions.

The Internal Revenue Code provides for a veritable cornucopia of tax exclusions, exemptions, and deductions, each one of which represents Congress' desire to either promote some activity, grant a favor to some constituency, or punish something that Congress wants punished. The use of the IRC to do this economic and social engineering is a travesty, but it constitutes a good way of Congress soliciting contributions and buying votes, so it will never be purged of these abusive provisions.

In short, no, it doesn't bother me that some large corporations pay no Federal Income Tax.

Great post. All those taxes collected form all the shareholders and employees add up to a tidy sum too, and all the jobs, money spent on goods, etc. but that somehow doesn't factor in to the corporations are greedy/evil crowd.

 

[whitehall]

The top corporations in America paid no tax from 2008-2012, and scores of others paid less than they were supposed to, according to report from Citizens for Tax Justice. The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes | Citizens for Tax Justice

They argue that it is for the good of the economy. If so, wouldn't our own escape from taxes fuel growth were we to have more in our pocket to spend?

Your thoughts?

I wonder if the source, "citizens for tax justice" pay taxes?

 

[TakeAStepBack]

It's totally greedy to want to keep your own property. It's also heroic and morally sound to want to take property that doesnt' belong to you for purposes you deem "necessary" for a "civilized" society.

I know, right? Strange and ironic. To promote theft by force and then call it "civilized". But Statists do impressive verbal acrobatics when seeking rent.

 

[Rshermr]

WTF do electioneering advertisments have to with it?

Not the point, as you know. Turns out that corporations are now considered people. The fact that they have the right to speech, then, would say that they have the right to be taxed like the rest of us people.
Only you libertarians disagree.

Swing and a miss.

No libertarian that I am acquianted with, or listen to believes corporations are people. At the same time, they would also likely argue that taxation is theft, so most aren't really giving very many fucks if corporations do not pay an income tax. That's at least, my position and experience. I'm sure YOU LOLberals have an entirely different construct in how you perceive the group of individuals you try to blanket collectively.

As soon as you show me a successful libertarian economy where they do not collect taxes from businesses, including corporations, I will have some interest. Otherwise, you are simply background noise.
By the way. Somalia does not count.

 

[Jughead]

Top 26 Companies Paid No Tax from 2008-2012

If these companies have more funds to invest, and create new jobs, meaning more folks are working, then I don't have an issue with the low tax rates.

 

[Rshermr]

A corporation is a fictitious person, created by the state at the request of investors, to protect the investors from individual responsibility for the torts and actions of enterprise. Without the possibility of creating a corporation, many businesses would simply not exist, as no investor would be willing to go into certain businesses and accept personal liability for the possible losses. Since it is a fictitious person, it makes no sense for a corporation to pay taxes, and indeed a very small percentage of corporations pay income taxes directly.

Most corporations are treated the same as partnerships (ref. Subchapter S of the IRC), and their profits are funnelled through the corporation to the owners, who pay taxes on an individual basis.

Corporations pay sales and use taxes, real estate taxes, excise taxes, government fees, levies, and assessments, just as a natural person would.

The existence of the corporate income tax is an economic aberration, made necessary by the need for politicians to cater to the ignorant desires of the overall population, which is incapable of rational thought. The more rational approach would be to have the corporate income tax rate be ZERO, but prohibit corporations from accumulating cash, thus requiring them to distribute profits to (a) investors in the form of taxable dividends and interest, (b) employees in the form of taxable wages and bonuses, (c) the corporation itself, for maintenance, repairs, and capital improvements or acquisitions.

The Internal Revenue Code provides for a veritable cornucopia of tax exclusions, exemptions, and deductions, each one of which represents Congress' desire to either promote some activity, grant a favor to some constituency, or punish something that Congress wants punished. The use of the IRC to do this economic and social engineering is a travesty, but it constitutes a good way of Congress soliciting contributions and buying votes, so it will never be purged of these abusive provisions.

In short, no, it doesn't bother me that some large corporations pay no Federal Income Tax.

Great post. All those taxes collected form all the shareholders and employees add up to a tidy sum too, and all the jobs, money spent on goods, etc. but that somehow doesn't factor in to the corporations are greedy/evil crowd.

Me poor ignorant tool. You are talking about Type S corporations. Type S corporations pay NO income taxes. They instead distribute profits to stockholders, who then pay taxes on their portion of the profits.
Here. Read.
S corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Indeependent]

Top 26 Companies Paid No Tax from 2008-2012

If these companies have more funds to invest, and create new jobs, meaning more folks are working, then I don't have an issue with the low tax rates.

You are referring to creating new jobs in the US?

 

[Rshermr]

The top corporations in America paid no tax from 2008-2012, and scores of others paid less than they were supposed to, according to report from Citizens for Tax Justice. The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes | Citizens for Tax Justice

They argue that it is for the good of the economy. If so, wouldn't our own escape from taxes fuel growth were we to have more in our pocket to spend?

Your thoughts?

I wonder if the source, "citizens for tax justice" pay taxes?

Simple enough. Google it. Find out. Though why you care is beyond me. Sorry that you think someone should be checking in to tax issues. I care. Millions of others care. That you do not want the information simply proves you like being ignorant.

 

[JimmieD]

Let me try to help you.

Yes, please do, because that's exactly what I was asking for.

GE is an international company.

Thanks for the help on this one.

Someone is trying to be dishonest here.

So who is "trying" to be dishonest? I guess I need further help with this one.

GE paid no taxes in the UNITED STATES.

That's not what their financial statements say; and if you read them you would have seen that.

So you can make up your beliefs from whole cloth, or actually spend a bit of time out reading about it. From impartial sources. Up to you. But calling the citizens for tax justice a questionable source is stupid.

It's not stupid if you actually read the financial reports that GE is legally obligated to disclose. If GE is not reporting correctly (by the way, all their financial statements are independently audited by impartial sources, but you probably didn't bother to know about or read those either) then they can be in some serious legal trouble. Companies use independent auditors specifically to get an impartial source so they stay out of legal trouble.

Here is the auditor's summary of what they found:

"In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of General Electric Company and consolidated affiliates as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2012, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by COSO." (2012 10-K, p 88)

So looks like I have my independent source who has actually spent time reading over their financial statements. Their entire 10-K has been independently audited.

What actually is stupid is pulling up some article and accepting it as gospel without investigating facts - especially when those facts are legal in nature and easy to find. There are items that companies like GE are legally obligated to accurately disclose. If they are "dishonest" (your term), then people end up in prison, companies are fined, CEOs/CFO's are fired, etc..

Heh, I would like to know how the NYT or Citizens for Tax Justice know anything about GE's financial condition without using GE's own reports as their primary source?

In fact, GE not only pays taxes to the US, but they have been audited by the IRS - who REDUCED the amount they already paid. GE seems to actually OVERPAY on their obligations:

Resolution of audit matters, including the IRS audit of our consolidated U.S. income tax returns for 2006-2007, reduced our 2011 consolidated income tax rate
by 2.3 percentage points. Resolution of audit matters, including the IRS audit of our consolidated U.S. income tax returns for 2003-2005, reduced our 2010
consolidated effective tax rate by 5.9 percentage points.
(GE, 10-K, p 149)

So yes, I question the source in the OP precisely because I have read up on it. Maybe you should too.