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The Shocking Tax Loophole for Corporations that Commit Crimes
The Shocking Tax Loophole for Corporations that Commit Crimes
Jim Hightower
3/11/15
...Congress has generously written the law so corporations can deduct much of their punitive payments from their income taxes! As Sen. Pat Leahy points out, "This tax loophole allows corporations to wreak havoc and then write it off as a cost of doing business."
For example, oil giant BP certainly wreaked havoc with its careless oil rig explosion in 2010, killing 11 workers, deeply contaminating the Gulf of Mexico and devastating the livelihoods of millions of people along the Gulf coast. So, BP was socked with a punishing payout topping $42 billion. But -- shhhh -- 80 percent of that was eligible for a tax deduction, a little fact that's been effectively covered up by the bosses and politicians.
This crazy quirk in America's laws to deter corporate crime forces victims to help subsidize criminals.
Follow the bouncing ball here: First, a court orders a corporation to pay punitive damages to a victim of its criminal acts; second, the corporate offender pays up, and then merrily subtracts a big chunk of that payment from its income tax, effectively taking money out of our public treasury; third, while the criminal is counting its tax break, the victim is notified that the punitive damage money he or she received from the corporation will be taxed as "regular income;" fourth, that means a big chunk of the victim's payment goes into the treasury to replenish the public money the corporate villain subtracted.
This is nothing but shameful pandering by government officials to rich and powerful criminals. ...
http://www.alternet.org/economy/shocking-tax-loophole-corporations-commit-crimes
Jim Hightower
3/11/15
...Congress has generously written the law so corporations can deduct much of their punitive payments from their income taxes! As Sen. Pat Leahy points out, "This tax loophole allows corporations to wreak havoc and then write it off as a cost of doing business."
For example, oil giant BP certainly wreaked havoc with its careless oil rig explosion in 2010, killing 11 workers, deeply contaminating the Gulf of Mexico and devastating the livelihoods of millions of people along the Gulf coast. So, BP was socked with a punishing payout topping $42 billion. But -- shhhh -- 80 percent of that was eligible for a tax deduction, a little fact that's been effectively covered up by the bosses and politicians.
This crazy quirk in America's laws to deter corporate crime forces victims to help subsidize criminals.
Follow the bouncing ball here: First, a court orders a corporation to pay punitive damages to a victim of its criminal acts; second, the corporate offender pays up, and then merrily subtracts a big chunk of that payment from its income tax, effectively taking money out of our public treasury; third, while the criminal is counting its tax break, the victim is notified that the punitive damage money he or she received from the corporation will be taxed as "regular income;" fourth, that means a big chunk of the victim's payment goes into the treasury to replenish the public money the corporate villain subtracted.
This is nothing but shameful pandering by government officials to rich and powerful criminals. ...
http://www.alternet.org/economy/shocking-tax-loophole-corporations-commit-crimes
Liberals don't hate the rich. We hate the rich doing ^^^ kind of sh*t & buying off our elected "representatives" to do it!
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