The Tax Man Doesn’t Cometh for Corporations

by Patricia Guadalupe  |  November 04, 2011

Imagine making a boatload of money and paying little or no taxes. That’s what many of the country’s largest companies have been doing for the past few years, according to a new report looking at the taxes that corporate America pays or, in this case, doesn’t pay.

Citizens for Tax Justice examined 280 Fortune 500 companies and found 78 hadn’t paid taxes during at least one of the last three years, and 30 hadn’t paid a red cent in all three years. In fact, those companies with zero taxes made $160 billion in profits over that same period. That’s billion with a “b.” They include Pepco Holdings, General Electric, Verizon, Wells Fargo, PG&E and other giants of industry.

Of the companies that did pay, the tax bill was about 18 percent, half the official 35 percent. The study also finds that 66 percent of the companies with profits overseas paid more taxes to foreign governments than they did to Uncle Sam.

Several companies had so many excess tax breaks that they reported negative taxes, which means they actually got tax rebate checks from the federal government.

Yes, really. It’s a part of the tax shelters and loopholes in the current tax system that the study says rewards companies that know how to game the system, while the average working American pays his or her fair share and more.

So, if you’re wondering why large groups of frustrated Americans are “occupying” Wall Street and cities across the country complaining about corporate greed and social inequality, this report gives you the answer in spades.