What the Top US Companies Pay In Taxes

theodp writes "If you've ever wondered how it's possible that you pay more to the IRS than General Electric, Forbes has an explanation. You, my friend, do not have the tax benefit of overseas operations. Microsoft, for example, has its overseas subsidiaries license software to its US parent company in return for handsome royalties that get taxed at lower overseas rates. Exxon limits its tax pain with the help of 20 wholly owned subsidiaries domiciled in the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands that shelter cash flow from operations in the likes of Angola, Azerbaijan, and Abu Dhabi. As a result, of the $15B it paid in income taxes last year, Exxon paid none of it to Uncle Sam, and has tens of billions in earnings permanently reinvested overseas. Likewise, GE has $84B in overseas income parked indefinitely outside the US. Now quit your carping and get back to filling out that 1040!"

Comments

Re:So, what now?

[Trepidity]

No, a mixture of the customers, employees, and shareholders do. Your statement is only true if all other factors (like rate of profit, and size of bonuses) are fixed, which there is no particular reason for them to be. If you take money out of a corporation, where it comes from depends on the elasticity of all the other factors. Some corporations can easily cut salaries; other corporations can easily cut dividends; other corporations can easily raise prices; most end up doing some mixture of things, depending on market conditions.

Text Of the Slides Here

[Killshot]

F*ck you, Forbes. I hate slide shows!
Here is all the text of the slides in a readable list.
No. 1: Wal-Mart Stores

Sales: $401 billion Pretax income: $20.9 billion Income taxes: $7.1 billion Tax rate: 34.2%

$1.2 billion of Wal-Mart Stores' taxes are international.

No. 2: ExxonMobil

Sales: $311 billion Pretax income: $35 billion Income taxes: $15 billion Tax rate: 47%

None of ExxonMobil's income taxes were paid in the U.S. In 2008 the company's income tax bill was $36 billion.

No. 3: Chevron

Sales: $172 billion Pretax income: $18.5 billion Income taxes: $8 billion Tax rate: 43%

Chevron paid $19 billion income tax in 2008. Of this year's taxes, just $200 million were paid in the U.S.

No. 4: General Electric

Sales: $157 billion
Pretax income: $10.3 billion
Income taxes: (-$1.1 billion)
Tax rate: N/A

GE's financial services unit, GE Capital, keeps the overall tax bill so low. Over the last two years, GE Capital has displayed an uncanny ability to lose lots of money in the U.S. and make lots of money overseas, where tax rates are lower.

No. 5: ConocoPhillips

Sales: $152 billion Pretax income: $10 billion Income taxes: $5 billion Tax rate: 51%

ConocoPhillips paid $13 billion in taxes in 2008.

No. 6: AT&T

Sales: $123 billion
Pretax income: $19 billion
Income taxes: $6.2 billion
Tax rate: 32.4%

AT&T's executive officers are eligible to bill the company $14,000 a year for their own income tax preparations.

No. 7: Bank of America

Sales: $120 billion
Pretax income: $4.4 billion
Income taxes: (-$1.9 billion)
Tax rate: N/A

How did Bank of America not pay any taxes on $4.4 billion in income? Because of deductions like $860 million in tax-exempt income, $670 million in low-income housing credits and a $600 million loss on shares of foreign subsidiaries. With a provision for credit losses of $49 billion, Bank of America probably won't be paying taxes for a long time.

No. 8: Ford Motor

Sales: $118 billion
Pretax income: $3 billion
Income taxes: $69 million
Tax rate: 2.3%

Ford's tax rate is so low because of past years' losses from U.S. operations.

No. 9: Hewlett-Packard

Sales: $115 billion
Pretax income: $9.4 billion
Income taxes: $1.75 billion
Tax rate: 18.6%

HP's low tax rate is due to lower tax rates in foreign countries. The company says in its annual report that President Obama's proposals to end tax deferrals on international operations would mean a big tax hike.

No. 10: Berkshire Hathaway

Sales: $112 billion
Pretax income: $11.5 billion
Income taxes: $3.5 billion
Tax rate: 30%

No. 11: JPMorgan Chase

Sales: $100 billion
Pretax income: $16 billion
Income taxes: $4.4 billion
Tax rate: 27.5%

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has spoken out against an Obama proposal to levy a special tax on banks to recoup bailout costs. "Using tax policy to punish people is a bad idea," said Dimon. "All businesses tend to pass costs on to customers."

No. 12: Verizon

Sales: $108 billion
Pretax income: $11.6 billion
Income taxes:

Re:'twas ever thus

[dbet]

It is the duty of corporate officers to (legally) minimise tax burden.

It is the duty of governments to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, without discouraging wealth creation.

Guess who's doing a better job...

That's because corporations hire the best accountants, while government is run by the best liars.

Re:If I could do it, I would!

[jcr]

I'm sure you think that's a clever gybe, but it's not. The long and short of it is, oil is a fungible commodity and whoever ends up in control of an oil field anywhere in the world is going to be selling that oil in the world market. As it happens, Exxon didn't get the contracts to operate Iraq's oil fields and pipelines.

-jcr