11 big profitable companies pay no tax

[sinkingfeeling]

http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2015/03/04/11-big-profitable-companies-pay-no-u-s-tax/

There are 11 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500, including tire maker Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT), electronic component maker Eaton (ETN) and restaurant chain operator Darden Restaurants (DRI) that paid no income tax in calendar 2014 despite reporting a profit during the year, according to a USA TODAY review of data from S&P Capital IQ.

Only companies that were profitable in 2014 were included – since companies that lose money understandably don’t have income to report. Also excluded were real-estate investment trusts (REITs) due to their unique “pass-through” accounting, which shifts the tax burden to shareholders rather than the company itself.

Seeing these money-making companies pay no income tax makes only stokes the raging debate over corporate taxation. A number of giant companies continue to keep cash parked overseas to avoid triggering a potential tax hit. And there’s the perennial debate – usually this time of year – about whether U.S. corporate tax rates are too high, or too low.

[justhanginon]

1. For these 11 companies

it would be hard to argue that the corporate tax rate is too high since they didn't pay any g'damn income tax. Meanwhile so many citizens have paid or are scraping together money to pay what as good citizens they owe unlike Goodyear et al. And congress wants to cut food stamps for the poorest among us because of budgeting shortfalls. It seems like the correlation between Goodyear not paying income tax and no money in the budget for a poor person's food stamps would lead to an obvious solution.