USS Redskins Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558 This is quite disturbing to me - and I imagine to anyone. I checked my phone bill last month and paid over $38 just in taxes for cell, home and internet usage and GE paid ZERO all last year.... They even received a 3.5 billion tax benefit! Those poor ****s really seemed to need it! How in the hell does this allowed to continue to happen? How un-American can you get? Funneling millions and billions through offshore corporate setups to avoid taxes. I am sure this is the way they all operate and are allowed to continue to operate as long as they keep the lobbying money flowing. I imagine the lobbying cash is a sliver of their budget compared to the amount in taxes they would spend. I guess I just wanted to rant a bit on this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?345529-G.E.-Avoids-Taxes-in-2010 Page 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yup, already a thread, but worth the double condemnation. It certainly puts the lie to American businesses being overtaxed. When you and I pay more in taxes than GE something is really wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 So, serious question: when filing my tax return this weekend, should I note that the government owes me every penny I paid back, since GE's $4.5 billion they earned domestically did not get taxed? After all, why should I have to pay taxes on the $20k or so I made when they don't on their $4.5 billion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 After all, why should I have to pay taxes on the $20k or so I made when they don't on their $4.5 billion? Hey now thats socialistic commie talk there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 So, serious question: when filing my tax return this weekend, should I note that the government owes me every penny I paid back, since GE's $4.5 billion they earned domestically did not get taxed? After all, why should I have to pay taxes on the $20k or so I made when they don't on their $4.5 billion? 4.5 Billion? You are thinking way too small. Last year, GE made a Gross Profit (ttm) of 75.49B. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=GE+Key+Statistics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yup, already a thread, but worth the double condemnation. It certainly puts the lie to American businesses being overtaxed. When you and I pay more in taxes than GE something is really wrong. If all of their accounts are offshore, how are they considered "American" anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same free speech rights as individual citizens. Apparently they don't have the same citizen responsibilities as individuals when it comes to paying taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 So, serious question: when filing my tax return this weekend, should I note that the government owes me every penny I paid back, since GE's $4.5 billion they earned domestically did not get taxed? After all, why should I have to pay taxes on the $20k or so I made when they don't on their $4.5 billion? Yes...you should try that. Report back with your findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 4.5 Billion? You are thinking way too small. Last year, GE made a Gross Profit (ttm) of 75.49B. The article I originally read on the subject said they made $4.5 billion in the US last year, which is the only thing I was counting. ---------- Post added March-28th-2011 at 03:28 PM ---------- Yes...you should try that. Report back with your findings. Haha I might. Not sure if the IRS has a sense of humor though. They'll fight hard for the couple hundred bucks they're getting from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Interesting. I wonder how they came up with that number. The number GE gives to investors on their profit was the one I quoted. I suppose it's possible that by the time you get to the net it could get down to 4.5, but I'm doubtful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same free speech rights as individual citizens. Apparently they don't have the same citizen responsibilities as individuals when it comes to paying taxes. Along this same line of thought, individuals can be put in jail for tax fraud/evasion. So, lock up GE? Just the executives? Or put the whole thing out of business? ---------- Post added March-28th-2011 at 03:31 PM ---------- Interesting. I wonder how they came up with that number. The number GE gives to investors on their profit was the one I quoted. I suppose it's possible that by the time you get to the net it could get down to 4.5, but I'm doubtful. Yeah if your figure was accurate I don't know how their US profit could be such a small portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Can't put GE out of business. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big to fail. Which is sadly why so many of these corporations think they are immune. And the sad thing is for the most part they are right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Can't put GE out of business. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big to fail.Which is sadly why so many of these corporations think they are immune. And the sad thing is for the most part they are right. That was tongue in cheek, but you would think someone could come up with a way to force them to play by the rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Can't put GE out of business. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too big to fail.Which is sadly why so many of these corporations think they are immune. And the sad thing is for the most part they are right. Especially when most of the money you are making is coming in from the government for military spending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrong Direction Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Nothing to see here people. Nothing at all to do with politics...or congressional control...or the political party in control of all three houses for 2 years. Let's keep our minds small. Unions support the little people, and Dems. Corporations are evil CEOs, and support Republicans. This has nothing to do with crony capitalism at all. Thank goodness McCain/Feingold fixed our campaign finance issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The Republicans and Dems are too deeply in corporations pockets these days. That's the real reason why we had the housing bubble, internet bubble, and the financial bubble. It's free market run amok. There needs to be a healthy check and balance between business and government. It doesn't really exist today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Thank goodness McCain/Feingold fixed our campaign finance issues. Until the SCOTUS rendered it useless by ruling corporations have 1st amendment rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 So, serious question: when filing my tax return this weekend, should I note that the government owes me every penny I paid back, since GE's $4.5 billion they earned domestically did not get taxed? After all, why should I have to pay taxes on the $20k or so I made when they don't on their $4.5 billion? If you made 20k last year, you aren't paying any income taxes anyway, right? :whoknows: Nevertheless, eff GE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Nothing to see here people. Nothing at all to do with politics...or congressional control...or the political party in control of all three houses for 2 years.Let's keep our minds small. Unions support the little people, and Dems. Corporations are evil CEOs, and support Republicans. This has nothing to do with crony capitalism at all. Thank goodness McCain/Feingold fixed our campaign finance issues. Really, you think all this developed over the last two years? Goodness, how many times have you bought the deed for the Brooklyn Bridge from a hobo with a dirty rag offering to wash your car's window? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrong Direction Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The Republicans and Dems are too deeply in corporations pockets these days. That's the real reason why we had the housing bubble, internet bubble, and the financial bubble. It's free market run amok. There needs to be a healthy check and balance between business and government. It doesn't really exist today. You had me until you said it's the free market run amok. I'm not sure what part of the free market the purchase of political favor falls into. I didn't think our politicians were supposed to be for sale in the free market. They are...in both parties...and that's the root of the problem in politics today. It's not left/right, it's special political rights. A failure of the constitution, IMO. ---------- Post added March-28th-2011 at 03:38 PM ---------- Until the SCOTUS rendered it useless by ruling corporations have 1st amendment rights. The SCOTUS isn't the problem here, and the system wasn't "fixed" prior to that decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 That was tongue in cheek, but you would think someone could come up with a way to force them to play by the rules. The problem is that they probably DID play by the rules -- the incredibly complicated, convoluted, loophole-filled rules of the coprorate tax code. I actually believe the GE statement that GE "is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." And I'm sure they have an army of bean counters working the system to a legal T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 If you made 20k last year, you aren't paying any income taxes anyway, right? :whoknows: Nevertheless, eff GE. Wouldn't have except my dad needed to claim me as a dependent in order to get a $2500 education credit. The standard deduction for a dependent is much smaller than the regular one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrong Direction Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Really, you think all this developed over the last two years?Goodness, how many times have you bought the deed for the Brooklyn Bridge from a hobo with a dirty rag offering to wash your car's window? How many times did GE get away with paying no taxes before the last 2 years? And how many times has Immelt (sp?) visited the White House. Look. I'm not naive enough to think that this is a new problem. It's been a problem for a long time and needs to be fixed. It's not an R or D thing. It's just that D's are the bad guys of the last two years because they had the power of the purse. I'm sure the congressional Republican's phones are ringing off the hook as we speak. I'm sure you didn't say a word about Halliburton, or Fox News, or oil companies during the Bush years. You never blame the politicians for this stuff, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The problem is that they probably DID play by the rules -- the incredibly complicated, convoluted, loophole-filled rules of the coprorate tax code. I actually believe the GE statement that GE "is scrupulous about its compliance with tax obligations in all jurisdictions." And I'm sure they have an army of bean counters working the system to a legal T. You could equate their version of "playing by the rules" to a baseball player taking roids- before there was a rule against it. Just because GE is obviously miles ahead of the "rules" of our tax code doesn't make it any more ethical, though I agree it probably is legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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