DIYbanter - View Single Post - GE Paid No Taxes on $14 Billion in Profits

Hawke[_3_]

On 11/20/2011 2:40 PM, wrote:
On Nov 20, 9:08 pm, wrote:
On 11/19/2011 4:34 PM, wrote:

On Nov 19, 4:52 pm, wrote:

So do you believe that companies should pay U.S. income taxes on
profits that are made outside the U.S.?

I haven't given that question much thought so I'm not sure where I stand
on that. But off the top of my head it seems fair that if a company is
an "American" company then they should pay some portion of taxes in
their home country no matter were they earn their profits.

Not a problem. Just expect a lot of companies to quit being "
American " companies. Well maybe they would still be American
companies, but Canadian companies instead of U.S. companies.

That's okay. Any company that isn't American can expect to have not so
good terms for doing business in this country. Our companies would find
it advantageous to remain American.

I don't think that's right. I think those businesses should be paying
much closer to 30% of all the taxes to the treasury. I also find it
amusing that the average guy, who is paying for everything in this
country doesn't seem to mind that he's paying a lot of taxes and huge
corporations pay none. I find that ironic to say the least.

So do you believe that companies ought to not follow the U. S. tax
code? That is, if Congress says it wants to encourage green energy
sources such as wind power and provides tax incentives to do so, that
G.E. should not build generators for wind mills.

I expect that only a few companies in a few specific industries would be
getting special treatment because the government wants to see certain
kinds of businesses thrive. So of course there would be a few companies
getting special treatment but the bulk would not.

As I said in my last post I am using GE as a symbol for corporations
making lots of money and paying nothing in taxes while the little guy
pays a third of his income in taxes. My point is that unfairness of that
situation. GE is getting specific tax credits and breaks for things the
government is encouraging it to do. I'm all for that. But we have the
same thing to a certain extent going on with almost all companies. They
are all getting breaks so they can avoid paying taxes while the regular
guy gets none of that and pays a high percentage of what he makes.
That's not fair.

But you said you had investments in a lot of companies and read the
Annual reports.

Yes, that's true.

Okay here is one. Nordstrom earned 991 million dollars before taxes.
They paid 378 million in income taxes. I calculate that as just over
38 %. Of course they paid other taxes too as real estate taxes.

Any way you slice it Nordstroms is a very good company and very
profitable. They sell to Americans so they have to pay most of their
taxes here. They may be one of the few companies that has a high tax
burden. But then so do the competitors in their industry. It's fair.
They make good profits. We don't know how much they make according to
what they are worth. Too bad we can't get all companies to pay this
much. If we could then we could think about lowering all their rates but
as we know most corporations are paying no income taxes.

I find it ironic that you want the government to encourage green
energy, but you then are upset that G.E. accepts the tax credits for
building generators for wind power. Make up your mind on what you
want.

I'm not bothered by what seems contradictory. This is a unique case
where the country wants companies to take risks in the energy sector. We
need the energy and it's worth it to take some risk trying to get ahead
in this field. Most companies don't get this kind of favorable
treatment. Other larger factors are at play so it's fine what they are
doing.

What I want is clear. I want corporations in general to pay a lot more
of the tax revenues for the country. I want the government to encourage
clean energy. I know that the companies that participate in these
programs get tax breaks. But way too many companies are getting way too
many breaks. Companies need to pay a lot more so that average guys can
keep more of their money, which they need very badly just to live on.

So pick your pony. Clean energy or companies paying more in income
taxes.

I pick both. I want clean energy and I want corporations to pay at least
25% of the country's tax revenues. They used to and we'd be fine if they
still did. More ordinary people would have more money to spend and the
economy would be more vibrant.

Of course you do realise that the average guy is going to come out
about the same. They can have more money after taxes but with GE
paying more income taxes, they will raise the price of electric
generators and the power companies will raise their rates. The same
with groceries , autos, gasoline , medicine etc.

It won't be one of one. Some prices may go up but over all the amount of
extra money most people would have would make a big difference in
economic activity.

Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.

All I can say is things would be a lot better for a lot more people if
we did what I recommend. We tried what the republicans recommended back
in the first seven years of this century. It didn't work. Now it's my
turn. I'm sure my ideas will produce better results than the ones those
people tried.

Hawke