Taxes? Not for the Fortune 500
by Miki Saxon
Speaking of taxes…
“I can’t predict the next scandal, but I know that fraud is a growth industry, and so is greed.”
So said Max W. Berger, a plaintiff’s lawyer who just won a $2.43 billion settlement from Bank of America.
The fraud, however, pales in comparison to the legal greed and games played by the platinum-plated corporate elite, such as Chevron, Apple and GE.
I don’t know what your tax rate is, but if you earn more than $36K it’s higher than most corporations are paying.
According to a recent analysis of nearly 300 Fortune 500 companies by the Citizens for Tax Justice, the average company was paying just 18.3 percent in taxes.
And the number that pay nothing is even more startling.
280 profitable Fortune 500 companies collectively paid an effective federal income tax rate of 18.5 percent, about half of the statutory 35 percent corporate tax rate, while receiving $223 billion in tax subsidies. These corporations include most of the Fortune 500 companies that were consistently profitable from 2008 through 2010. Collectively they paid $250.8 billion in federal income taxes on a total of $1,352.8 billion in U.S. profits. If they had paid the statutory 35 percent tax on their profits, they would have paid an extra $223 billion.
Stashing cash overseas is a legal ploy that as a shareholder you might be inclined to applaud, but is this form of tax avoidance really better for shareholders and the company, let alone the economy?
Business is vocal about the dangers of the deficit—as long as dealing with it doesn’t impinge on them.
But you have to admit, $223 billion a year would go a long way to paying it off.
Flickr image credit: Jagz Mario
