Bigger the Company, less the tax it pays.
They are effectively assisted by Accountants ,who under the guise of tax planning ,cheat the Government of Taxes.
Sting is the Government approves them and enroll them by training them/approving the Institutes that train them in their discipline.
They are called Financial Consultants,Chartered Accountants(chartered to evade tax?)
If the Accountants were to be honest, there would be no tax frauds.
General Electric is America’s biggest firm, but it’s not paying a dime in US taxes this year—instead, it has claimed a $3.2 billion tax benefit, the New York Times reports. Though it made a $14.2 billion profit in 2010, $5.1 billion of which was made here, GE’s aggressive accounting strategies and lobbying have, year after year, cut its tax burden on US profits. The reported figure is 7.4%, a third of what most American multinational firms pay—and thanks to offshore shelters, it’s even less in reality.
The company’s huge tax department, which includes former IRS members and writers of the tax code, has been called the best tax law firm in the world. GE has lobbied to change tax law in order, for example, to get credits for its wind turbine projects. The company is unapologetic: “We are committed to complying with tax rules and paying all legally obliged taxes,” says a spokeswoman. “At the same time, we have a responsibility to our shareholders to legally minimize our costs.”
Related.
General Electric paid no taxes in 2010. Or at least that was the major takeaway from a recent bomb-dropping exposé in the New York Times. At a time of obsessions with federal fiscal austerity, this was a big story, and everyone was talking about it last week.
I’ll admit to having a visceral negative reaction, in part because GE is an important company that most people have high expectations for. So I wanted a bit of distance before composing some thoughts. I thought it would also be interesting to see GE’s reaction and response before jumping to conclusions. But even after mulling it, I feel like the whole affair is not good for anyone — the country, the business world, or even GE itself.
Ok, so the facts are these. GE made $14 billion in profits in 2010, $5 billion in the U.S. Its tax bill in the U.S. will benegative $3.5 billion (as in getting money back). Is this legal? Of course it is. But the question on everyone’s lips is whether a company can be a solid, contributing member of society and pay no taxes.
http://blogs.hbr.org/winston/2011/04/corporate-citizenship-should-i.html
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