Corporate Welfare



I have heard it said on more than one occasion that corporations don't pay taxes because they pass the tax burden on to their customers. This Reuters article says most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales. Here are a few excerpts from the article:
The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said.
Such a sad commentary on US tax policy and governmental incompetence.
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7 comments:

  1. crownringAugust 14, 2008 at 3:56:00 PM CDT

    Bob, the link isn't working. :(

    BTW, I have been aware of this situation for quite some time. John Stossel calls it corporate welfare. Some of the American corporations actually get paid by the American government for marketing their products overseas.

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  2. kc bobAugust 14, 2008 at 4:02:00 PM CDT

    Thanks CR.. I fixed the link!

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  3. Kevin KnoxAugust 15, 2008 at 4:51:00 PM CDT

    Hey, KB, I almost commented on this, but I could not back up my suspicions. Here's some authority on the subject:
    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/08/021245.php

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  4. Kevin KnoxAugust 15, 2008 at 4:52:00 PM CDT

    That sounds almost snarky, but not with intent. I only mean that I was guessing, and these guys seem to know what they're talking about.

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  5. kc bobAugust 15, 2008 at 5:16:00 PM CDT

    Thanks for the link CP.. the figures may be wrong but the idea of corporate welfare isn't :)

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  6. Therese ZAugust 18, 2008 at 2:33:00 PM CDT

    http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aJHKNW1lro9Y&refer=columnist_hassett

    I also almost commented, because my first thought was "well, our company didn't show a profit last year and we didn't pay taxes. And we're not crooks!" but why be a capitalist when everybody wants to complain? Here is a nice detailed report on why the original article was so skewed....

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  7. kc bobAugust 18, 2008 at 2:41:00 PM CDT

    Thanks for the link TZ.. similar to the one that CP posted.. I still think that companies are getting tax breaks that they shouldn't be getting.

    Did your company's leader/CEO get a bonus last year even though the company didn't make a profit? Does he/she make 100x what you make? Maybe your company is a small one and has restraint in these areas.. be a refreshing change if it did.

    Guess I am a bit biased in this area.. don't want socialism.. but I would like to see a different form of capitalism :(

    ReplyDelete

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