American corporations are always talking about what an onerous tax burden they have, and how they need it to be lower to survive. Are they telling the truth? Forbes Magazine has shown us what the top 25 U.S. Corporations paid in taxes. Here they are:
1. Wal-Mart (profit $20.9 billion) tax paid $7.1 billion
2. ExxonMobil (profit $35 billion) no U.S. taxes paid on income
3. Chevron (profit $18.5 billion) tax paid $200 million
4. General Electric (profit $10.3 billion) paid no U.S. taxes, but received tax rebate of $1.1 billion
5. ConocoPhillips (profit $10 billion) paid $5 billion in taxes
6. At&T (profit $19 billion) paid $8.2 billion in taxes
7. Bank of America (profit $4.4 billion) paid no U.S. taxes, but received tax rebate of $1.9 billion
8. Ford Motor Co. (profit $3 billion) paid $69 million in taxes
9. Hewlett-Packard (profit $9.4 billion) paid $1.75 billion in taxes
10. Berkshire Hathaway (profit $11.5 billion) paid $3.5 billion in taxes
11. JP Morgan Chase (profit $16 billion) paid $4.4 billion in taxes
12. Verizon (profit $11.6 billion) paid $1.2 billion in taxes
13. McKesson (profit $1.1 billion) paid $241 million in taxes
14. Cardinal Health (profit $1.7 billion) paid $500 million in taxes
15. CVS Caremark (profit $5.9 billion) paid $2.2 billion in taxes
16. IBM (profit $18 billion) paid $4.7 billion in taxes
17. Wells Fargo (profit $18 billion) paid $5.3 billion in taxes
18. United Health Group (profit $5.8 billion) paid $2 billion in taxes
19. Citigroup (lost $7.8 billion) paid no taxes
20. Procter & Gamble (profit $15.8 billion) paid $4 billion in taxes
21. Kroger (profit $1.7 billion) paid $530 million in taxes
22. AmerisourceBergen (profit $824 million) paid $312 million in taxes
23. Costco (profit $1.7 billion) paid $630 million in taxes
24. Boeing (profit $1.7 billion) paid $400 million in taxes
25. Valero (lost $450 million) paid no taxes
It looks like some of these companies actually paid their fair share of taxes. Others paid nothing or paid a lesser percentage than a middle-class earner pays. Of course, this is only the top 25 companies according to Forbes. There are hundreds of other corporations, and we don't know whether they paid their fair share or not.
However, in 2008, the Government Accountability Office said 2 out of every 3 American corporations paid no income tax from 1998 to 2005 (and those were good economic times -- no recession). Doesn't that make you feel good as you prepare to be honest and pay your own taxes?
"Doesn't that make you feel good as you prepare to be honest and pay your own taxes?"
ReplyDeleteYeah, about as good as the fact that "[a]n astonishing 43.4 percent of Americans now pay zero or negative federal income taxes. The number of single or jointly-filing 'taxpayers' ... who pay no taxes or receive government handouts has reached 65.6 million, out of a total of 151 million."
"However, in 2008, the Government Accountability Office said 2 out of every 3 American corporations paid no income tax from 1998 to 2005 (and those were good economic times -- no recession)."
To understand the cause and effect behind this (i.e. lower corporate taxes stimulate the economy, causing those good economic times), read Taxation 101: Who Pays Corporate Taxes? by Dr. Walter Williams, another one of those "nonexistent" Black conservatives.
The sad fact of the matter is, corporations don't pay higher corporate taxes - you do, in the form of increased prices.
Corporations don't use their "profit" to create additional jobs. They hand it out to executives, destroy smaller competitors, and bribe politicians with it.
ReplyDeleteYou are seriously misguided if you think it trickles down. The corporations are all mostly run / owned by the same small percentage of Americans and the money is hoarded at the top. They don't get the money by competing against each other with the best product/service, they steal it through subsidies and tax breaks.
The upper class is fleecing the rest of the country for everything it is worth, the middle class will soon be penniless at the rate we are going. Fortunately, the upper class will need a bunch of maids/butlers/limo drivers/etc.. I would suggest looking into that line of work. They will probably need a bunch of police/prison guards as well. Maybe they will be willing to part with room/board as payment for services rendered.