5 Juicy Tax Breaks That Corporations Enjoy That the Public Can't Touch (corprat welfare!)

[Triana]

Corporations are quick to claim “corporate personhood” and their First Amendment rights when it comes to their ability to donate to political candidates, influence elections, and lobby or when it comes to advertising their products, especially those deemed dangerous or socially destructive. But on tax day, corporations are quite content with a tax code full of perks and privileges for corporations that are not available to living, breathing human beings.

When corporations break the law, they get a tax break

If you forget to feed the meter, or go a little too fast and get a speed camera traffic ticket in the mail, or God forbid fail to pick up after your dog in a public park, when it comes to tax time, forget it – none of these fines for bad behavior are tax deductible.

But that’s not the case for corporate bad actors. Take, for example, BP’s toxic mess in the Gulf of Mexico or Wells Fargo’s abusive lending practices that cost tens of thousands American families their homes. BP’s clean-up costs and Wells Fargo’s settlement fees were likely fully deductible, leaving the rest of us to pick up a significant piece of the tab for their destructive behavior. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) have issued a bi-partisan call to end the tax deduction for Wall Street banks settling charges of lending abuse that lead to the Great Recession.

THE REST:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/5-juicy-tax-breaks-corporations-enjoy-public-cant-touch

[Trillo]

1. K&R

Given the vastness of the topic, the article is short.