G.E., owner of many different companies, including the ultra liberal MSNBC along with NBC made $5,100,000,000 in profit in the United States alone and yet paid $0 in income taxes.
From the New York Times: General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.
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.
That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.
Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.
Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.
This is just notht. I don't care if you are a conservative, liberal or from Mars, this is border line criminal and at the very least, morally wrong.
The GOP majority in the House needs to start closing tax loopholes to prevent these kind of abuses from happening. My question is this, why haven't the liberals when they had the Congress and the presidency from 2008-11 do anything? Aren't liberals the one's who love to impose taxes and accuse the rich of not paying their share? So, they did nothing. Harry Reid, John Boehner and President Obama, please sit down and start revising the tax loopholes that allows this kind of robbery by the likes of GE and other large corporations to stop stealing. They are robbing the U.S. blind and it is morally wrong. There's nothing about making a large profit, but you also need to pay your share of the taxes as well. And companies like GE are not.
Dan, there have been Democrats trying to close loopholes, up to and including President Obama. They keep getting shut down by. . .wait for it. . .Republicans. And yes, I'll concede that there are also too many Democrats who are beholden to their corporate sponsors.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get money out of elections: campaign finance reform. If we did that, there would be NO need for politicians of either party to cowtow to corporations. But GE (and the MSNBC connection) is by no means the only big corporation not paying taxes. Obama also tried to get oil subsidies cut out, and met resistance with that one also. And so it goes.
Here is a primo example of what I'm talking about: ExxonMobil.
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