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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!"
I am closest to being described as a democratic socialist, not a communist.
I agree that we spend too much...on the military. Our other spending is mostly things I would agree with except it doesn't go far enough. The top marginal income tax in the US used to be 90%. It's now less than half of that. Sorry that I have little sympathy for the billionaire who wants to keep 500M dollars. He's still not poor if he only has 10 million in spending cash at the end of the year. Meanwhile there are people starving and dying from lack of health care.
Combine our ever more regressive tax structure with rampant deregulation and corporate consolidation of power buying votes in our government and it's no wonder we're in such a mess.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
Nah, FairTax would be a better choice.
After all, companies don't ever pay taxes. You do. Through higher prices for goods, fewer jobs at lower pay, and fewer dividends to shareholders.
How exactly do you think companies have money to pay taxes, anyway?
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
It is modded as troll for the same reason that any post in favor of free market and economic liberty is modded down. It is not that the left wing /.ers have more mod points, it is that they are more likely to lack arguments for their beliefs (for the simple reason that their beliefs are not based on sound reasoning but on emotions) and to use the modding system instead.
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
I don't suppose anyone here knows squat about the double taxation trap corporations face. Oh no, it's much more fun to rant and flame when you're uninformed.
What double taxation do you mean?
-FL
This is because unions cost them way too much money. And, the unions were one of the root causes to the reasons the big 3 us car makers failed.
Good point, and I might add "They are legally required to be amoral and self-serving." This is also a relatively new requirement, it used to be corporations were legally required to serve the public good. This was not seen as a socialist measure as it was seen as an anti-capitalist measure. Under current law, if Steve Jobs wanted to make the world a better place and move all manufacturing to the US (at a loss to his company) he couldn't do that, it would be illegal for him to act against his shareholder's interests. If though there was an exemption for acts contributing to the public good, he might be able to. Seems though Republicans have convinced us all that whats in the public good is allowing people to get really really rich. Not making it EASIER to get rich mind you, just making it easier to go from rich to OMG Rich.