Most of us are aware that America has a punitive corporate tax system, but here’s a sobering bit of analysis. Corporations pay more money to governments than they do to their shareholders.
Here’s a chart from a recent Tax Foundation analysis.
Now here’s something even more important to understand. Corporations don’t actually pay all those taxes.
Yes, they collect the taxes and forward them to various tax authorities, but the burden of business taxes is borne by workers, consumers, and shareholders.
Something to keep in mind as the moochers and looters demand higher taxes on companies.
What are these “other taxes?”
Lots of taxable $ that corporations earn is funneled through a variety of subsidiaries and subsidiaries of subsidiaries via tax haven locations and other machinations to avoid paying taxes. On one hand, this hides money that is used for investment, on the other hand, it avoids paying taxes. I often wonder which is better, continuing to allow it to occur or giving it to the bloated federal government. Thinking I like the keeping it for investment.
“Shareholders Should Occupy Washington”
Should?
The Tax is primarily borne by workers.
To the extent that there is free movements of goods and capital, consumers can shift to cheaper (perhaps less taxed) foreign goods and more profitable (again perhaps less taxed) foreign investments.
So in the end almost all corporate taxes are borne by the workers who work at these companies.
Throw this against inflation. $410 billion in 1994 would cost $595 billion in 2008. I’m NOT in favor of taxes, just pointing out that a long term chart using currency needs to include a baseline value of the $. Then again the chart was prepared by the IRS
Although I don’t know which ‘master’ you guys are serving, but I’m sure you’d suck up to him if he came into the room. Your charts mean nothing. This is an obvious attempt at scaring people into thinking that taxes on corporations will simply be passed on to consumers.
Well, the Occupy movement is calling bullshit on you all. We are done listening to your slanted views and twisted reporting. You try to complicate things to the point of incomprehensibility. The time for listening is over. The time for action is upon us.
Since the US Government no longer represents its people, we take it upon ourselves to restore our nation to the greatness we once were. It’s happening all over the world, and OUR TIME has come.
So you can take your charts and statistics and shove em up your ass. We don’t care anymore. Are you listening? Probably not…you never did–you probably don’t even think anything is wrong.
Don’t underestimate the power of the people. We rule this land, not your fucking companies. We’re here to take the power back. Sorry. Have a great day.
Corporate Welfare in the United States
% of Foreign-owned Corporations doing Business in the US Paying ZERO US Taxes: 72 Percent
% of US Corporations paying ZERO US Taxes: 67 Percent
Effective Tax Rate paid on Average by all the remaining Publicly Traded Corporations: 12 Percent
Effective Tax Rate Paid by Largest Multinationals: 25 Percent
US taxes paid by Exxon-Mobile paid on $37.3 Billion profit in 2009: ZERO
US taxes paid by General Electric on $10.3 Billion Profit in 2009: ZERO
US taxes Paid by Bailout Recipient Bank of America on $4.4 Billion Profit in 2009: ZERO
US Taxes Paid by Chevron on $18.5 Billion Profit in 2009: 200 million
(1.1% Tax Rate)
US Taxes Paid by Verizon on $11.6 Billion Profit in 2009: 1.1 Billion
(10% Tax Rate)
According to the Government Accountability Office, nearly three fourths of all foreign-owned corporations doing business inside the United States pay no taxes on that activity in multiple years between 1998 and 2005. Nearly the same amount of US-based corporations pay zero taxes to the United States Government. These facts fly in the fact of the ongoing Wall Street and corporate media narrative that US Corporations face the highest taxes in the world.
But that should come as no surprise: lying to the American public to cover up the pillaging of the nation is nothing new.
Here’s how your chart lies: It is simply adding up the total in dollars paid by all the corporations that did pay taxes. Which is less than half. Obviously that’s going to be a large number because there are a lot of corporations dealing with a lot of record busting profit. It says nothing about the actual (also known as effective) tax rate paid by individual corporations, or the % paid by corporations. If you add up in dollars the taxes paid by non corporate middle class workers it would be in the hundreds of billions as well – a meaningless chart that says very little.
But its excellent for lying and peddling dogma without substance.
Just thinking out loud here…
Corporations create jobs. People pay income taxes, payroll taxes, etc. According to your skills and intelligence you will make a certain amount of money. You will buy what you need and some of what you want. As you want more things you will try to advance yourself in your job by being a better employee. If and when you have advanced in your company and you want more money than your employer will pay, you will start trying to find a better job with a different corporation. If you have been a good employee, other companies will pay you more to get you and may even give you an upgrade to a better position. You may have to move to a different location to take that position and for many people that is a change they don’t want to make. For each of us we have priorities that will determine what changes we make. Some people can and will decide to go out on their own and start a business. The point I’m trying to make is “We the people” can have a say in how we chart our life if the government, who we pay, would get out of many things, not all, that belong to the private sector.
[...] My initial instinct is to have some sympathy for the companies. After all, America’s corporate tax system is brutally anti-competitive. Heck, government gets a greater share of corporate profit than shareholders! [...]