Large Profitable Companies That Paid No Taxes in 2010

by Videomark in Politics, April 4, 2011

Several large corporations are making billions in dollars in profits every year but are avoiding paying taxes. They are finding loopholes in the system and end up paying very little or no taxes at all. Meanwhile, the taxpayers are taking on the extra burden of making up the difference.

It has recently come to light that General Electric made $14.2 billion in profits in 2010 but ended up with a total tax bill of $0. How can this happen? They reported that the profits were all made by their offshore businesses and that their U.S. companies lost money. GE has received a $14 billion dollar refund from the U.S. government over the past 5 years in spite of making a $26 billion dollar profit over this time period. General electric is not the only company with miracle accounting. Several other large companies are also taking advantage of loopholes.

Carnival Cruise Lines showed an $11 billion dollar profit over the past 5 years but only paid a 1.1% tax rate.
Conoco Phillips had $16 Billion in profits in the 3 years from 2007- 2009 but received $451 million in tax breaks from the IRS.
Citigroup last year alone made over 4 billion in profits but paid no federal income tax in 2010.
Boeing received a $30 billion contract from the US government to build planes and got a $124 million dollar refund from the IRS last year.
Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS in spite of making over $10 billion in profits.
Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009 but received a $156 million refund from the IRS.

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I have no problem with companies making profits because that is how an economy thrives. What I have a problem with are companies that do not pay their share of taxes. These companies pay a team of accountants to find tax loopholes. Obviously some of them have earned their money well. The tax system needs to be revamped to make sure that the burden is spread evenly. We must not let large corporations find ways to avoid paying taxes when they are obviously making huge profits.

If you think that only large corporations are getting away without paying taxes then think again. A report showed that 47% of qualified American taxpayers did not pay any federal income tax in 2009 or received a refund for the entire amount that they paid. This kind of imbalance is what is keeping the economy from prospering. There is no logical reason that half of the taxpayers should be exempt from paying taxes. Until this unfair discrepancy is finally resolved and the tax system is fixed properly, the middle class taxpayers will continue to be unfairly burdened and just might become an endangered class.