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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!"
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.