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US Competitiveness Chief Immelt's GE Tax Bill: $0
theodp writes "'He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,' President Obama said of GE CEO Jeff Immelt, as he announced Immelt would chair the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. On Friday, the NY Times reported that one trick Immelt employs to keep GE competitive is paying no American tax bill. In fact, GE claimed a 2010 tax benefit of $3.2B on worldwide profits of $14.2B, $5.1B of which came from US operations. According to the NYT, GE's extraordinary tax-avoidance 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. GE's giant tax department is led by a former Treasury official whose 975-member team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the IRS and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress. GE's return to rock-bottom tax rates marks a dramatic reversal from the mid-80's when President Reagan reacted to corporate accounting gamesmanship and supported a change that closed loopholes and required GE to pay a far higher effective rate, up to 32.5%. 'That GE can almost set its own tax rate shows how very much we need reform,' said Rep. Lloyd Doggett. 'Our tax system should encourage job creation and investment in America and end these tax incentives for exporting jobs and dodging responsibility for the cost of securing our country.'"
Crybabying about low corporate taxes is fashionable, but doesn't really hold up to reason. It's just a way for certain types of people to rouse the rabble about how the "fat cats" (be they fat cat Washington politicians, fat cat lawyers, fat cat CEOs, fat cat top-hat wearing bankers with monocles, you name it) are pulling one over on Joe American. What's funny is we're soon approaching the point of no return where on average Joe American pays no net taxes, so it's hard to imagine the kind of contortions you'd have to go through to whine about corporate taxation then.
Anyway, corporations don't realize profits - people do. And corporations are not people, not even legally. It's certainly cool to blather about how "corporations are legally people!!" but it's simply wrong. They have some legal protections similar to those of a person, but it's not hard to tell the difference.
Corporate "profit" goes towards either creating jobs or as real profit to a person. You want the first, and you tax the second. The only gray area is when corporations helpfully buy someone something, e.g. they buy their CEO a car that only he ever uses and that he uses for private business. That should be taxed.
NBC, MSNBC, CNBC are all mouthpieces of the Obama administration. GE will probably/or already has land(ed) contracts in health care information systems, solar, rail and even the "smart" odometers for cars. Not to mention the TARP money that GE Capital got after the converted themselves to a bank. "Imagination at work" - by some lobbyists and tax accountants. Disgusting! Any word on what Jack Welch thinks?
but why do the teabaggers have such a boner for the notion of becoming the next China or India
Don't worry, once they get someone in office who is A) white and B) tells them God told him to do these things, they will completely stop complaining.
Someone had to do it.
As opposed to the Democratic Party, the Party of the richest people in the country. Look at the voting records of the richest counties in the U.S., they overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. It is obvious that the Democratic Party loves the poor, they are working so hard to make more of them.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison