posted 04-12-2004 08:20 PM            

The majority of companies operating in the United States in 2000 didn’t pay any taxes, according to a GAO study released last week. According to the study, almost three-quarters (73.3 percent) of foreign-based companies paid absolutely nothing in taxes in 2000, and 88.5 percent paid less than five percent of their U.S. earnings. Among U.S.-based corporations, more than three in five (63 percent) paid nothing. And a remarkable 93.9 percent owed less than five percent of their income. It’s a rate that’s been slowly growing since 1996, the report found.

The report found that small companies (defined as less than $250 million in assets or gross receipts of less than $50 million) were more likely than large companies to pay nothing. The percentage of large companies paying nothing in taxes was significantly less than the average – 45.3 percent for U.S. companies, and 37.5 for foreign companies.

Unfortunately, the report doesn’t look specifically at how many of the companies paid no taxes because they exploited loopholes or engaged in any of a number of tax avoidance strategies, and how many paid nothing simply because they actually failed to turn a profit.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said in a press release that the study’s conclusion is “stark evidence” that “gaping loopholes” exist in the tax code and its administration and enforcement. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who released the study along with Dorgan, said that “Too many corporations are finagling ways to dodge paying Uncle Sam, despite the benefits they receive from this country.”

Last year, corporate taxes accounted for just 13.7% of the federal tax bill, while individual paid 86.3% of the federal tax bill. In 1940, corporations and individuals roughly split the federal income tax bill equally. According to the Congressional Budget Office, corporate income taxes in 2002 contributed to less than one-tenth of overall federal budget revenues (down from 15 percent in the 1970s and 25 percent in the 1960s). Corporate tax revenues also now represent only 1.5 percent of GDP, down from 4.1 percent in 1965. Such a decline in corporate tax revenue means individual taxpayers are paying more.

For more, see: “Free Riders” by Lee Drutman for TomPaine.com: http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10220/view/print

“Firms Often Avoided Taxes,” by Warren Vieth of the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/la-fi-tax7apr07,1,85314.story?coll=la-headlines-business-invest

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Tell your elected officials to get tough on corporate tax cheating

As detailed above in news items 1 and 2, corporate tax avoidance remains a significant problem.

According to a GAO study released last week, the majority of companies operating the United States in 2000 didn’t pay any taxes. Almost three-quarters (73.3 percent) of foreign-based companies paid absolutely nothing in taxes in 2000, and 88.5 percent paid less than five percent of their U.S. earnings. Among U.S.-based corporations, more than three in five (63 percent) paid nothing. And a remarkable 93.9 percent owed less than five percent of their income. It’s a rate that’s been slowly growing since 1996, the report found.

Meanwhile, the audit rate for the 11,2000 largest corporations has fallen from nearly 50 percent in 1996 to just 29 percent in 2003, and the overall audit rate for all corporations was 7.3 percent in 2003, down from 8.8 percent the year before and down from 29.3 percent in 1993. In 2003, there were just 483 federal tax prosecutions, down from 1,431 in 1981.

Last year, corporate taxes accounted for just 13.7% of the federal tax bill, while individual were paid for 86.3% of the federal tax bill. In 1940, corporations and individuals roughly split the federal income tax bill equally. According to the Congressional Budget Office, corporate income taxes in 2002 contributed to less than one-tenth of overall federal budget revenues (down from 15 percent in the 1970s and 25 percent in the 1960s). Corporate tax revenues also now represent only 1.5 percent of GDP, down from 4.1 percent in 1965.

Yet, the current administration is calling for just a 4.8 percent increase in the IRS funding.

As tax day approaches, please take the time to call up your Senators and Representative and let them know that you are concerned that corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes. Tell them that the IRS needs more resources and that Congress needs to pay more attention to this problem. Ask them what they are doing to make sure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep

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MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
White House Comment Line - (202) 456-1111

White House Fax Line - (202) 456-2461

President George W. Bush's e-mail - president@whitehouse.gov

Vice President Dick Cheney's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov

White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500

US Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121

To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep

To contact SEC Chairman William Donaldson: chairmanoffice@sec.gov

To contact FCC Chairman Michael Powell: mpowell@fcc.gov

To contact New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/email_ag.jsp

For more information about Citizen Works, please visit http://www.citizenworks.org.

posted 04-13-2004 04:35 PM            

It amazes me!

Our corporate tax system is corrupt and you don't even read about it! Amazing!

posted 04-13-2004 05:44 PM            

Through explicit policies, as well as tax laws never reported in the news, Congress now literally takes money from those making
$30,000 to $500,000 per year and funnels it in subtle ways to the super rich -- the top 1/100th of 1 percent of Americans.

People making $60,000 paid a larger share of their 2001 income in federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes than
a family making $25 million, the latest Internal Revenue Service data show. And in income taxes alone, people making $400,000
paid a larger share of their incomes than the 7,000 households who made $10 million or more.
.

The super rich have stopped paying taxes.
If you can afford a top-dollar accountant, you can incorporate in the Bahamas and not pay any taxes.

I watched a documentary last night called "Orwell Rolls in his Grave," where they explain this.
Congress is passing tax laws that benefit only a handful of the super-richest families in America.
The press won't report this because they're owned by those few super-rich individuals.

We have to do something while we still have a country worth fighting for.

This was posted on bartcop.com

posted 04-14-2004 08:09 AM            

Bartcop is always "right on" with information and commentary!

I read Bartcop frequently!

And yes, the super rich are exempt, but it's even worse than that as you realize that the loopholes themselves have created attorney careers while middle and lower level workers continue to pay their taxes! Yes, the CEOs collect the profits, never trickle them down, and run around the world spending lavishly on themselves, paying low wages in unsafe working conditions, while the middleclass is squeezed and contorted, jobs are lost, and the poor suffer.

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John Kerry for President has released a report that reveals a dramatic worsening of a "Middleclass Misery Index" which combines seven different indicators: median family income, college tuition, health costs, gasoline cost, bankruptcies, the homeownership rate, and private-sector job growth. The Middleclass Misery Index worsened by 13 points, the largest three-year fall on record.

How George W. Bush compares to previous Presidents:

Previous Presidents Change in the Middle-class Misery Index
Carter 6
Reagan -5
Bush I -12
Clinton 23
Bush II -13

Incomes have declined by $1,462 under President Bush.

In the last year the middle class has experienced near-record jumps in the cost of healthcare, college tuition, and gas:

College tuition up 13 percent -- the largest increase on record
Health premiums up 11 percent -- the largest increase since 1977
Gas prices have risen by 15 percent, causing the average family to spend $300 more per year -- the second largest increase since 1980
John Kerry's proposals -- including $225 billion of middle class tax cuts for health and education -- address all aspects of the middle-class squeeze. John Kerry's plan includes:
Creating 10 million new jobs
Promoting universal access to college
Providing affordable health insurance for all Americans
Creating energy independence
Taxes:
The Bush Campaign's strategy on taxes is to convince America that John Kerry wants to raise them. Right now Dick Cheney is pushing an absurd distortion that John Kerry wants to raise taxes by $1.7 trillion dollars.
In fact, John Kerry wants to lower taxes for 98% of Americans while seeking fiscal discipline by repealing the budget-busting tax cuts Bush gave to the richest Americans making over $200,000 a year.
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Sorry to get political, but we have to look to solutions now that we know the level of corruption and unfairness.

Thanks for posting! This is another piece of the sick Bush-puppet elitist puzzle!