Go Back   CityProfile.com Forum - Local City and State Discussion Forums > General Discussion > National Politics / Debate
Click Here to Login

Reply
Old 03-25-2011, 06:06 PM  
mohel
 
blucher's Avatar

Keizer, OR
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,365 | Kudos: +124
Images: 99
GE Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010

HTML Code:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558
Quote:
The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it possible that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profit?

And should the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, be advising the president on business?
For two years, President Obama has been talking about the need for corporate tax reform, declaring that the system is too complicated and that companies pay too much.
"Simplify, eliminate loopholes, treat everybody fairly," Obama said in February.
For those unaccustomed to the loopholes and shelters of the corporate tax code, GE's success at avoiding taxes is nothing short of extraordinary. The company, led by Immelt, earned $14.2 billion in profits in 2010, but it paid not a penny in taxes because the bulk of those profits, some $9 billion, were offshore. In fact, GE got a $3.2 billion tax benefit.
Watch "World News with Diane Sawyer" for more tonight on ABC.
"Two things are disconcerting. One is, there's disproportionate amount of profits being reported offshore. And then, even for the profits that are reported onshore, they're paying less than 35 percent," said Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor for Tax Analysts.
2010 was the second year in a row that GE recorded billions in profits and paid no taxes.
During that same period, Immelt has been a close advisor to the president on the business community, a relationship that rubs some the wrong way. Immelt serves as the chairman of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
In a statement, General Electric said that it "pays what it owes under the law and is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." The company claims that its zero-dollar tax bill is largely a result of losses at its financial arm, GE Capital, due to the Wall Street meltdown.




White House: Immelt Advises on Jobs, Not Taxes

Today, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the president is "bothered" by the idea that a U.S. company could pay no taxes, but he wouldn't talk about GE specifically. Carney was also quick to say that Immelt's council advises the president on job growth and not on tax policy.
"It is part of the problem of the corporate tax structure that companies hire, you know, armies of tax lawyers to understand how it works and to take advantage of the various loopholes that exist, that are legal in order to reduce their tax burden," Carney said.
When President Obama announced his decision to appoint Immelt to the unpaid advisory role on job creation in January, some critics wondered whether the move was appropriate. Under his leadership, GE laid off 21,000 American workers and closed 20 factories between 2007 and 2009. More than half of GE's workforce is now outside the United States.
GE Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010-ge_geographic.jpg 

GE Paid No Federal Taxes in 2010-wanted-poster-ge-sketch-final.jpg 

__________________

__________________
I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2011, 06:59 PM  
Traveler

Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,450 | Kudos: +43
I saw that too. I'm not surprised at all. The working class gets the shaft and corporate America gets the breaks and golden parachutes!
__________________

Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2011, 10:20 PM  
mohel
 
blucher's Avatar

Keizer, OR
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,365 | Kudos: +124
Images: 99
Quote:
Originally Posted by Musicinabottle View Post
I saw that too. I'm not surprised at all. The working class gets the shaft and corporate America gets the breaks and golden parachutes!
It's obscene.

I can't get the lady who needs $6000/mo. for her meds out of my mind. The story came out after she approached Congressman David Wu for help. That a Phd holding professor needs help from her Congressman to cover meds shows how broad the gap between "affordable" and adequate actually are.
It gets worse when you hear Wu is under threat of recall for acting nuts the last year.
__________________
I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2011, 10:33 PM  
AK 47 toting Liberal!
 
rainbow's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 309 | Kudos: +17
Frankly, I'm more surprised at how people don't comment about it. Because they just don't care. You could spew toxic waste in our drinking water and people would shrug it off, but mention even the thought of gun control and peoples eyes turn insane. People in this country really are.............Never mind.
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2011, 09:32 AM  
Senior Member

Bristol, Tennessee
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,062 | Kudos: +48
google and especially the drug companies are doing this as well. The amount of complexities and moving around money really sound like a drug dealer laundering money and gets quite complex...... So our already low taxes (comparatively speaking) on corporations is not low enough for them, and some in the "billionaire/tea party crowd are calling for these "overseas" profits to be tax free to then get them reinvested here.....

when will the tea partiers wake up and realize they are just being used in a game to get more money for billionaires on the back of the working man. just the fact that the only tax break that they cared about was the one for people making 250k or more shows where there loyalty really resides
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2011, 10:15 AM  
AK 47 toting Liberal!
 
rainbow's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 309 | Kudos: +17
The Tea party movement and the republicans are out to gut the working class. Reagan made it where people on strike couldn't get food stamps, in an effort to keep workers quiet and in compliance with corporate. Now the repubs are at it again, by killing food stamps for children of striking parents. You look at all the republican money from the Koch brothers walmart and other millionaires going into fighting labor unions to the tune of millions, and it becomes very clear that the republicans are all about snuffing out free speech and democracy. People are begining to get pissed though, and as I type this, rallies are being held to recall many of these republican governors, and Wisconcin already has half the required signatures to recall MR Walker. People will have these events and scams fresh on their minds when they vote next time I assure you!
Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2011, 10:29 AM  
mohel
 
blucher's Avatar

Keizer, OR
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,365 | Kudos: +124
Images: 99
Quote:
You could spew toxic waste in our drinking water and people would shrug it off, but mention even the thought of gun control and peoples eyes turn insane. People in this country really are............
I've spent a lot of time in gun forums and raw fear describes it. I have plenty of guns which I intend keeping. I simply want gun checks that allow the arming of the sane and the disarming of fruitcakes.

There's no "slippery slope" involved in disarming nuts, it's simple common sense.

The Tea Party had every right to be angry. I just wish they also had the brains to figure out who took their jobs, homes and futures.
__________________

__________________
I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Reply With Quote
Reply

Go Back   CityProfile.com Forum - Local City and State Discussion Forums > General Discussion > National Politics / Debate
Bookmark this Page!

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Suggested Threads

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.