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.
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.
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.
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:
Where I work the biggest holdup is that the company is run by old people who are incapable of understanding technology. Every email must be printed and filed multiple times. (one file for the recipient, one file for the sender, more files if there are CC's) and every website of our customers and competitors is printed in completion and filed. Yes, we actually do this.
So, we have two systems. One that is mostly paperless so that those of us working can quickly access information. The other system relies on a warehouse for storing documents (mostly printed emails and webpages) and a whole staff of people who only file and retrieve them.
We currently print and file over 200,000 sheets of paper annually.
We are a small company with 20 employees, but 1/3rd of our costs comes from moving and storing paper to satisfy the people in charge.
Even the most simple tasks require moving paper around. Let's say a sales lead comes in through our website. Management prints several copies of the email, and then has it delivered to sales. Sales types out a reply, and before sending it, prints a copy and then it is delivered back to management where it is approved, and then a message sent back to sales on any changes and finally the printed communications are filed. Eliminating any of these steps is "eliminating the paper trail" and any digital alternative does not work because it eliminates paper
As the "IT guy" I have tried everything to get them to stop using so much paper. Even staging a fake fire, to try and scare them into not relying on paper for storing all their information. (Failed, they started sending copies of more important documents to different locations to minimize risk.)
Needless to say, we are losing money and I don't expect to have this job for much longer.
Funny that most of this conversation is about creating more laws and not much about ideas for ways that technology can solve the problem.
Mobile communications are here to stay, there is no going back and there is no way you are going to stop people from answering their phone.
Why do cars not yet come with bluetooth?
This would be simple and inexpensive. A mic in the steering wheel and the sound comes through the speakers.
I stopped texting and driving once I got an iphone because I can not send a message while looking at the road, while previously I could use T9 without looking. But how about phones start offering text-to-speech and speech-to-text?
There are plenty of ways that we can make communicating on the road safer without trying to criminalize people.
The only problem I had is kernaloops giving me an error constantly that was really a non-error about ECC not being enabled on my bios..
But I think that was fixed today.
It does bother me that they really seem to push the 6 month cycle.
If they have a good stable release out, it's ok to take some extra time to make sure that the next release will be just as good.
I have about 100 sites hosted there right now that are offline, but none worth so much that a day or two of downtime will affect me so much. The worst part is getting phone calls from people who I host. and try to explain in as many ways as possible that No, I can not personally go to texas and fix it, and that there is absolutely no alternate way for them to get their email right now.
The price of storage and bandwidth is so cheap for the big guys that it is hard to compete as a small host. I make an ok living by selling development and design service (custom premium price stuff rather than cheap pre-made) then the hosting is tacked on as an additional fee.. say an extra $50 - $100 per year.
I have used both Plesk and Cpanel, they both suck, but they also serve their purpose.
It is not making too much money, it is making more money, it is growing, and it is better to sell something when it will look attractive to buyers.
They over paid for skype, it takes a lot of resources to run, and has nothing to do with their core business. Getting rid of it now makes perfect sense.
I've been a windows user for 16 years, and after a few experiences with Vista, I decided it was time to switch. I am not entirely unfamiliar with linux, So I have a bit more of an advantage than an average user. But even still, for the most part the switch has been painless. If I can't figure out something, searching the Ubuntu forums is really helpful.
It really feels like an OS that really works the way an OS should.
I wouldn't say that it is ready for the masses, but I think that most fairly computer savvy people who want an alternative to windows (or mac) should be able to make the switch.
TSA employees don't make much, they probably can not afford a macbook and probably are not up to speed on the latest and greatest tech items to hit the market are.
They are trained to identify items by looking at an xray image on a monitor. They are also trained to look for common items that are modified to hold weapons or explosives.
Now, imagine day after day for several years you see the clear outline of a hard drive in every laptop that passes through security. and then one day there is a laptop with no hard drive. Not investigating it would be not doing your job.
Macboy should have allowed for more time to get through security.
Maybe at some point I will try to do that...
But one thing I find odd.. unless this is a new policy.. I just signed up for adwords for one of my blogs.. The page had to be reviewed by a human before me being accepted.
So, it would seem that these made for adsense pages are approved by google?
I really dislike how frequently when searching for information on something I find nothing but pages and pages of google ads.
I think that it may ultimately end up hurting google's business because people will get tired of searching for things and not finding it, and advertisers will get tired of paying for clicks that don't convert.
Someone should make a search engine that does not index pages where most of the content is google ads.
No, as broken as the patent system is, that is not how it works.
Patents are applied for pretty early on, during development of a process or identification of a compound. Not at the end of testing efficacy.
Just doing a check on what food I eat daily, I am getting 500% my RDA in vitamin D.
I get outside a decent amount, walk to the store, beach and hiking on weekends, etc..
I haven't gotten cancer yet, but I also have not yet gotten Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, nor have I had a heart attack, or gotten infected with HIV.
I've never heard of "vitamin B17" However there are other people doing research on different glycosides and possible anti tumor properties, What we are doing however is focusing on glycans.
As for the pharma companies wanting to keep a cure secret. Pretty doubtful, they have a strong interest in preventing or curing cancer and they can make a lot of money at it. Just look at the new cervical cancer vaccine, first thing they have done is try to get state governments make it mandatory.
Did you notice the link in the article to the vitamin D council?
Did you notice the doctor who did the study is part of the vitamin D council?
Although they are a non profit, they do provide links to lots of people who will be happy to sell you some vitamin D.
I work for a small biotech company that has been doing cancer research and we never put out a press release every time we think we are on to something interesting or promising. We do study after study not just to establish a link, but to understand exactly how a compound may stop or prevent cancer. I wish people would take more time to ensure they have lots of data to go on before saying they have found a "direct link"
And on another note, I find it hard to believe that so many people are deficient in vitamin D.
We may spend a lot more time indoors than our ancestors, but I feel confident I am getting enough sunlight and enough D in foods i consume.
Right. or perhaps people who read sfx magazine (which i have never even read) tend to be serenity fans for some reason or another.
Personally, although Star Wars was a great movie, I don't keep going back to the same movie for 30 years as my source of entertainment. Every time I see a new sci-fi movie, I don't think "Well it just wasn't as good as Star Wars."
People do not move for "prestige"
Can you imagine how difficult it would be for slashdot to move to.tv or.eu or something after years of people knowing what the address is?
Yeah but then you can not call it Play-doh without violating some sort of trademark.
Super-fun-multi-colored-semisolid just doesn't have such a nice ring to it.
First of all, I don't see why so many people seem to think it would be so easy for every porn site to just move to.xxx. Moving your domain is not something people want to do if you have spent years branding and promoting your name..
If slashdot moved to www.slashdot.tv or.xxx or whatever, It would take a long time to get the majority of the audience to know where to go, especially since the general internet population types in.com automatically. Just look at the confusion between whitehouse.gov and whitehouse.com.
If it is completely voluntary, that is fine, but then it really serves no purpose. because it will not make the internet any easier to filter.
.xxx only exists as someone's crazy idea to try and regulate and control the internet.
Slashdot Mirror
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:
Where I work the biggest holdup is that the company is run by old people who are incapable of understanding technology. Every email must be printed and filed multiple times. (one file for the recipient, one file for the sender, more files if there are CC's) and every website of our customers and competitors is printed in completion and filed. Yes, we actually do this.
So, we have two systems. One that is mostly paperless so that those of us working can quickly access information. The other system relies on a warehouse for storing documents (mostly printed emails and webpages) and a whole staff of people who only file and retrieve them.
We currently print and file over 200,000 sheets of paper annually.
We are a small company with 20 employees, but 1/3rd of our costs comes from moving and storing paper to satisfy the people in charge.
Even the most simple tasks require moving paper around. Let's say a sales lead comes in through our website. Management prints several copies of the email, and then has it delivered to sales. Sales types out a reply, and before sending it, prints a copy and then it is delivered back to management where it is approved, and then a message sent back to sales on any changes and finally the printed communications are filed. Eliminating any of these steps is "eliminating the paper trail" and any digital alternative does not work because it eliminates paper
As the "IT guy" I have tried everything to get them to stop using so much paper. Even staging a fake fire, to try and scare them into not relying on paper for storing all their information. (Failed, they started sending copies of more important documents to different locations to minimize risk.)
Needless to say, we are losing money and I don't expect to have this job for much longer.
Funny that most of this conversation is about creating more laws and not much about ideas for ways that technology can solve the problem.
Mobile communications are here to stay, there is no going back and there is no way you are going to stop people from answering their phone.
Why do cars not yet come with bluetooth?
This would be simple and inexpensive. A mic in the steering wheel and the sound comes through the speakers.
I stopped texting and driving once I got an iphone because I can not send a message while looking at the road, while previously I could use T9 without looking. But how about phones start offering text-to-speech and speech-to-text?
There are plenty of ways that we can make communicating on the road safer without trying to criminalize people.
The only problem I had is kernaloops giving me an error constantly that was really a non-error about ECC not being enabled on my bios.. But I think that was fixed today. It does bother me that they really seem to push the 6 month cycle. If they have a good stable release out, it's ok to take some extra time to make sure that the next release will be just as good.
I have about 100 sites hosted there right now that are offline, but none worth so much that a day or two of downtime will affect me so much. The worst part is getting phone calls from people who I host. and try to explain in as many ways as possible that No, I can not personally go to texas and fix it, and that there is absolutely no alternate way for them to get their email right now.
The price of storage and bandwidth is so cheap for the big guys that it is hard to compete as a small host. I make an ok living by selling development and design service (custom premium price stuff rather than cheap pre-made) then the hosting is tacked on as an additional fee.. say an extra $50 - $100 per year.
I have used both Plesk and Cpanel, they both suck, but they also serve their purpose.
It is not making too much money, it is making more money, it is growing, and it is better to sell something when it will look attractive to buyers. They over paid for skype, it takes a lot of resources to run, and has nothing to do with their core business. Getting rid of it now makes perfect sense.
I've been a windows user for 16 years, and after a few experiences with Vista, I decided it was time to switch. I am not entirely unfamiliar with linux, So I have a bit more of an advantage than an average user. But even still, for the most part the switch has been painless. If I can't figure out something, searching the Ubuntu forums is really helpful.
It really feels like an OS that really works the way an OS should.
I wouldn't say that it is ready for the masses, but I think that most fairly computer savvy people who want an alternative to windows (or mac) should be able to make the switch.
it is worthwhile to find a host that allows you reasonable amount of control over your website.
TSA employees don't make much, they probably can not afford a macbook and probably are not up to speed on the latest and greatest tech items to hit the market are.
They are trained to identify items by looking at an xray image on a monitor. They are also trained to look for common items that are modified to hold weapons or explosives. Now, imagine day after day for several years you see the clear outline of a hard drive in every laptop that passes through security. and then one day there is a laptop with no hard drive. Not investigating it would be not doing your job.
Macboy should have allowed for more time to get through security.
Glad they are doing something... Should be interesting to see how many sites disappear.
Maybe at some point I will try to do that...
But one thing I find odd.. unless this is a new policy.. I just signed up for adwords for one of my blogs.. The page had to be reviewed by a human before me being accepted.
So, it would seem that these made for adsense pages are approved by google?
I really dislike how frequently when searching for information on something I find nothing but pages and pages of google ads.
I think that it may ultimately end up hurting google's business because people will get tired of searching for things and not finding it, and advertisers will get tired of paying for clicks that don't convert.
Someone should make a search engine that does not index pages where most of the content is google ads.
No, as broken as the patent system is, that is not how it works. Patents are applied for pretty early on, during development of a process or identification of a compound. Not at the end of testing efficacy.
Just doing a check on what food I eat daily, I am getting 500% my RDA in vitamin D.
I get outside a decent amount, walk to the store, beach and hiking on weekends, etc..
I haven't gotten cancer yet, but I also have not yet gotten Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, nor have I had a heart attack, or gotten infected with HIV.
I've never heard of "vitamin B17" However there are other people doing research on different glycosides and possible anti tumor properties, What we are doing however is focusing on glycans.
As for the pharma companies wanting to keep a cure secret. Pretty doubtful, they have a strong interest in preventing or curing cancer and they can make a lot of money at it. Just look at the new cervical cancer vaccine, first thing they have done is try to get state governments make it mandatory.
Did you notice the link in the article to the vitamin D council?
Did you notice the doctor who did the study is part of the vitamin D council?
Although they are a non profit, they do provide links to lots of people who will be happy to sell you some vitamin D.
I work for a small biotech company that has been doing cancer research and we never put out a press release every time we think we are on to something interesting or promising. We do study after study not just to establish a link, but to understand exactly how a compound may stop or prevent cancer.
I wish people would take more time to ensure they have lots of data to go on before saying they have found a "direct link"
And on another note, I find it hard to believe that so many people are deficient in vitamin D.
We may spend a lot more time indoors than our ancestors, but I feel confident I am getting enough sunlight and enough D in foods i consume.
Right. or perhaps people who read sfx magazine (which i have never even read) tend to be serenity fans for some reason or another.
Personally, although Star Wars was a great movie, I don't keep going back to the same movie for 30 years as my source of entertainment. Every time I see a new sci-fi movie, I don't think "Well it just wasn't as good as Star Wars."
Waiting for ads.doubleclick.net..............
It would seem that allowing a small unintrusive advertisement on each wikipedia page would help cover costs.
Why don't they do this?
People do not move for "prestige" Can you imagine how difficult it would be for slashdot to move to .tv or .eu or something after years of people knowing what the address is?
Yes, and children have been convicted of producing or posessing child pornography.
I believe at one time I read about a teenage girl who was posting nude photos of herself online getting charged with producing child porn.
Yeah but then you can not call it Play-doh without violating some sort of trademark.
Super-fun-multi-colored-semisolid just doesn't have such a nice ring to it.
Have you seen the cost of Play-doh these days? You are talking at least $100 for 30 pounds of the stuff
First of all, I don't see why so many people seem to think it would be so easy for every porn site to just move to .xxx. Moving your domain is not something people want to do if you have spent years branding and promoting your name.. .xxx or whatever, It would take a long time to get the majority of the audience to know where to go, especially since the general internet population types in .com automatically. Just look at the confusion between whitehouse.gov and whitehouse.com.
.xxx only exists as someone's crazy idea to try and regulate and control the internet.
If slashdot moved to www.slashdot.tv or
If it is completely voluntary, that is fine, but then it really serves no purpose. because it will not make the internet any easier to filter.