If ever there was a reason to completely scrap our insane tax codes this is it.
CNN Money: GE had plenty of earnings last year -- just not in the United States. For tax purposes, the company's U.S. operations lost $408 million, while its international businesses netted a $10.8 billion profit.
That left GE (GE, Fortune 500) with no U.S. profit left for Uncle Sam to tax. Corporations typically face a 35% federal income tax on their earnings. Thanks to its deductions and adjustments, GE reported an actual U.S. federal income tax rate of negative 10.5%. It got to add a "tax benefit" of $1.1 billion back into its reported earnings. […]
But what about the $10.8 billion profit overseas? GE is "indefinitely" deferring income tax payments on those profits, Eisele said.
This country is in sore need of a very simple and very straightforward tax code. I would like to see a flat tax that allows no exemption and no deductions for anyone. The current progressive tax code with all its loopholes and schemes encourages cheating. Worse yet, those with money like GE have the most options to escape paying.
Does anyone really think GE truly lost $408 million in the United States? Most likely this crazy accounting that our current tax codes create. Under a straightforward flat tax system, GE and other like them could never get away with schemes like this.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: CNN Money
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I'm going to gather up some old clothes and canned goods and mail it to GE Corporate Headquarters. It seems as if some of the senior executive staff might need it and I still want them to make jet engines, light bulbs, and all the other stuff they make there. My Chevron Credit Card is underwritten by GE. I don't want that line of credit to vanish.
I urge all ABC's readers to join me in sending what you can to:
General Electric
C/O Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, Connecticut
Let's try and get GE profitable so they can pay taxes again!
It's not quite true to say GE paid no taxes to the US. It didn't pay corporate income tax, but I guarantee it paid a fortune in payroll taxes, unemployment, etc.
I agree that we need a much simpler tax code: a flat percentage of profits. It'd be much easier to enforce, and probably lead to increased collections.
GE and other big corporations have been into scheming and loopholes for years so that they can avoid paying taxes.
I am for the fair tax or at least something simplified rather than the complex tax codes we have presently.
Steverino: Of course GE paid payroll taxes, so did the Mom & Pop Shop around the bend. The difference is GE has the resources to AVOID CORPORATE taxes where the Mom & Pop Shop doesn’t.
The tax code hurts small businesses, which is MIDDLE America, the ones that our government SAYS it wants to help. If that were true then they would do away with the very code THEY don’t even understand!
I would favor a flat tax, but would certainly like to retain some of the IRS personnel and put them to work on the cost versus benefit of the legislation that is written.....turtle tunnels in Florida, bug mating habits.......and all manner of completely idiotic use of taxpayer money
Pamela, the mom and pop shop most certainly can avoid corporate taxes: simply become an S-corp. If it's a small operation, it would have few enough shareholders to qualify. And profits from an S-corp avoid corporate taxes, passing through to the individual shareholders, where it is taxed at the individual rate.
In another view, every cent of GE's taxes must be paid by its end consumers. So, having GE pay more in taxes would just mean its consumers would pay more for its products (or that GE would employ fewer people).
Finally, I already said that I'm strongly in favor of a much simpler tax code, which would certainly benefit small businesses.
I'm with you on the flat tax. No deductions, no credits, no crap. Everyone pays the same percentage of their earnings, and that's that. The entire tax code in one sentence.
I've got a friend who is really into the "fair tax"; I need to look at it some more, but as of now, I love the flat tax. Let's do it. That and some massive budget (er, entitlement) cuts, and we'll be back on the road to fiscal security.
IM ALWAYS LATE, ON THE GOOD CHATS!
Clifford, Obama needed the union votes, to win the election in 08..The vote was extremely close, and if it wouldn't have been for all the unions (that were forced to vote for obama).I'm l00% sure Obama would have NEVER won the election in 08-- the vote being that close is one thing I am proud of,and really shows ALL of us how unions work- Obama is FORCING unionizations in ALL our states now, the problem with this is almost half our states are ''Right To Work States''and in theory, we are granted the right to work by our state, so the unions can not come into our states and ''grant us the right to work'' .. This is ONE of many ''national right to work advocacy groups (this by far is the biggest one in my state) http://www.nrtw.org/ make sure you look over this site their is A LOT of information in it, like how the unions are PROTECTED via their collective bargaining:to cause your body harm; or your children's body harm...In fact cliffton, if you look real good on this site, you will see the UNION THUGS could get away with raping your wife, IN FRONT OF YOUR CHILDREN, and NEVER face charges or stand trial..
http://www.nrtw.org/en/d/big_labor_special_privileges.htm - I had to just give you the link to it, this is the l0 MOST egregious acts protected to unions under their never ending always expanding contracts..On this page you will see obama passed ''card check'' by executive order.. and now obama is in the state of Ga, FORCING US TO UNIONIZE!! Let me assure you before Obama NOT even Delta had unions,HECK, not our schools,NOT, one government employee, ALL of the southern states CAN NOT see ANYTHING ABOUT these contracts with the unions at ''prima facie''-latin, for at first glance..
Ga can't discriminate AGAINST unions, much like any of our other states can't- but we can decide to NOT recognize the union contracts, because these states do not legally recognize contracts that you can not look at, and at first glance,and not be able to figure them out.. but since this fool has been in office the unions began taking l5$ out of my check weekly for a couple months, before they raised it to 60$ on ALL my employee checks, now we ALL live with the CONSTANT, and real threat, that the 60$ will go up- So they got my employees like that then stuck it to me and and slapped me with something that feels like govt mandates (or taxes)..
http://www.nrtw.org/en/d/big_labor_special_privileges.htm - I had to just give you the link to it, this is the l0 MOST egregious acts protected to unions under their never ending always expanding contracts..On this page you will see obama passed ''card check'' by executive order.. and now obama is in the state of Ga, FORCING US TO UNIONIZE!! Let me assure you before Obama NOT even Delta had unions,HECK, not our schools,NOT, one government employee, ALL of the southern states CAN NOT see ANYTHING ABOUT these contracts with the unions at ''prima facie''-latin, for at first glance..
Ga can't discriminate AGAINST unions, much like any of our other states can't- but we can decide to NOT recognize the union contracts, because these states do not legally recognize contracts that you can not look at, and at first glance,and not be able to figure them out.. but since this fool has been in office the unions began taking l5$ out of my check weekly for a couple months, before they raised it to 60$ on ALL my employee checks, now we ALL live with the CONSTANT, and real threat, that the 60$ will go up- So they got my employees like that then stuck it to me and and slapped me with something that feels like govt mandates (or taxes) ..and now I'm paying VERY EXPENSIVE mandates, that are costly in an economy like today..I'm currently a care giver and I own a few homes (one for boys and girls) and take care of 4 adults with disabilities , the unions are demanding I feed these clients activia, and a very expesive 80$ bottle of vitamins, not to mention they made me replace all the new furniture that was in both houses, mind you the state would make us do this lx every 3 years, and i had just done this..Not to mention the unions have banned all generic foods, and all foods can only stay in the house for a week..So the unions have REALLY taken my job and made it difficult to get a return off of (except for the smiles on my clients faces) but their happy smile will not keep the lights and gas on..
I had a LOT to say about unions, I'm sorry ya'll..They really getting on my nerves
Cliff the more I read, and see about this, I'm realizing how much the civil war had nothing to do with slavery, AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE UNION'S..Cliff you ever ask yourself why the states are referred to as ''A Union''? and freeing slaves in the south caused over l00 years of suffering in the south..So what we were free'd, we had no homes or food, and not ONE PROTECTION under the law white people were protected by-to get ANY protections under the law, cliff I remimber being terrorized by this, and it caused my entire FAMILY SO MUCH STRESS, as well as caused heart ache, AND FEAR to be placed in our hearts of white people, now Im not racists, but I still have a healthy fear of MOST white people, AND THE GOVERNMENT WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING TO STOP IT, so they were vicariously supporting the miss-treatment and fear being placed into MILLIONS of blacks hearts, you know the south is saturated with blacks than any other place in the country/rural parts ontop of ALL the cities you'll see a heavy black presence- everywhere else blacks tend to oNLY live in the cities...
Here we live in the country, and the city, and all southern states are like this, as well as if you google ''right to work states''you will see it's a map of what used to be confederate/ ''union''..
Keeping it real, cause keeping it fake dont work, the north invading the south and freeing the south of slavery caused MORE than l00 years OF SUFFERING, it was l00 years before we (blacks) were protected by ANY law, so the whites in the south would hang blacks from tree's or rape our wives and young children, INFRONT OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY..I remimber my family's fear when I was younger, and just seeing how scared they were, how they had to swallow their dignity and pride, and out of fear they would submit to EVERYTHING a white person said - so NEVER think the civil war was about freeing blacks..freeing blacks from slavery, but then them not even considered human, and more animalistic did more harm than the actual slavery did..My great grandma told us stories of how she LOVED her master who kept her safe and fed..when she was free'd she lost her home, food, and ANY protection she had to not be harmed..
Cliff, OUR ENTIRE INDUSTRIAL MARKET has been ruined by unions,and since the collective bargining of these contracts extends the union thug bosses more AND more protections under the law, than our law allows for- it was actually obama's forced unionization of coca cola and delta that started the states rights movement..
let me give you some more food for thought cliff, GE and GM we're merged together, in that super special bankruptcy Obama worked out for them..OBVIOUSLY since cars are about to be electric, Obama saw the need to take a corporation THAT WAS TOTALLY SEPARATE from GM, and merge GE AND GM together- of course both companies are highly unionized before, as well as unionized now, let me tell ya something, unions in our ''right to work states'' ARE SO ILLEGAL they break the state constitutions, in every state in the south..Commmmeeeee on, we dont do unions, the unions are why the north attacked the south, and they still scare us..Come on, the north was well into their industrial revolution, WHEN THEY FORCED IT ON THE SOUTH, who just wanted to simple farmers, and more simple folks than the north was aspiring for the south to be.. We were attacked by surprise then slaughtered (we've never gotten over that) and it's only salt in those wounds that the confederacy is denounced as racist (which it was not) it was a hell'uva lot better than this racist federalist system we have today cliff, that has almost half OF THE ENTIRE BLACK POPULATION UNDER ARREST because of this drug war..
h and I too am a HUGE supporter of fair-tax guys, but dont be betting on it folks, IT WONT HAPPEN..Obama has taken our courts, our industry, and by having the unions, he has production too- Now I don't know how many of ya'll know what communism is, it gets to easy to define it by the actions of MaO, or Hitler, or even Stalin, and then somehow define communism by the actions of what any communist before oabam has done, when the simple facts are ALL communists take the Government+ Industry+ production= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism, obviously when work slows down mass murders occur to the people under the govt's hand, because they cant pull their weight..Now obama has ALL our industry's, from banking, healthcare, cars, and everything else under the moon, like MY PERSONALLY OWNED and operated home health-care facilities..Unions under obamas hand HAVE TAKEN MY BUSINESS FROM ME, and now allow me to work in it, with their rules, while I am paying them for this crap! WTF- and if you look around the site I'm adding below, you will see this is happening ACROSS the country AND ACROSS THE WORLD!
I wonder with all the fee's unions are collecting in GA, and obama's new ''Card check''- if he isn't gonna force us to pay for his ''second run'' for the W.H. off our new forced union due's,THEN FORCING US TO VOTE FOR HIM, under this new ''Card check'' which has passed executive order..So this guy Obama is gonna make us pay for his election out of our pockets, due to union dues, and then FORCE us to vote for him with his ''Card check''.. Unions are bad, they're terrible, and they are HALF of the reason whites left europe - because they used to keep MOST common people out of work, and unions had the ALL KNOWING authority to hire those they declared were ''skilled larborors,'' thus creating a PERMANENT UNDER-CLASS also KNOWN AS PEASANTS, and an extremely privileged class, OR ELITE CLASS..Unions have been HUGE part of the worlds bigger problems since the l700's -
SEIU, is they don't care you will see them ''collectively bargaining'' to pay hispanic's and black's WAyYYYYYyyy more than whites will get paid, this story is on the cover page of the site page, and their is actually 2 stories on this front page were they are doing this....
DANG Cliff, Im sorry for REAL shock value I HAVE to add this to this thread http://www.seiu.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=collective%20bargaining&limit=20 this is the SEIU's ''special'' website (for the special privlages ONLY they have) granting them ''collective bargaining'' which translates to union contracts never ending and always expanding! - Now, whats GREAT about this site about the SEIU, is they don't care you will see them ''collectively bargaining'' to pay hispanic's and black's WAyYYYYYyyy more than whites will get paid, this story is on the cover page of the site page, and their is actually 2 stories on this front page were they are doing this....
As you look over this site you will see some pretty unconstitutional acts being committed by the unions (note to self- they are OBVIOUSLY being protected)under collective bargaining.. The unions ''bargain'' with federal/appellate judges WHO SET PRECEDENT FOR OUR ENTIRE DISTRICTS, then these protections are extended to everyone, and the unions demand dues are paid, demanding due's go up constantly because of ALL the fights they must have in court extending even more protections to them self-, they like to make EVERYONE think that some of us are not paying our due's, and that's why our dues always go up, when the truth is they have the means to get their money from ANY ONE they want that's working..and they are trying to kill our democracy, with the threat violence, and threatning everything we know about America,even our bodies and they do this because of this ''collective bargaining'' -
Guys GM and GE are corrupted, and have been for some time- but they didnt have the government backing them like they do now..
Unions are a threat to all we know in America, and are communist by nature..since communism IS ONLY when the govt merges with industry, and production, it becomes even clearer to see their only one purpose!
dang- sorry ya'll this was a long answer I had to try to divide up on separate posts, i see I didnt do that good at picking up where I left off and picked up without leaving off a couple times ONTOP just plane ol repeated myself in one of those posts..
ONE HUGE THING I LEFT OUT, is how GE and GM, we're not only merged into ONE huge not so good company who's goals are to be making electric cars by this year..
BUT< Obama also GAVE the a credit arm, Ameri-credit which is the worlds largest payday loaner..This company has made it a specialty to extend credit to people the could vicitimize the poor and obligate them to high interest loans and debt, now have ya'll seen the GE Capital commercial where they're implying they'll give loans too??
Well they got the GOVT backing all their loans, and then the kinds of loans that are being backed by the government could not be done without the government's backing..
GM is trying to put ford out of business by giving loans TO EVERYONE< I mean MOST of the people who get loans from GM could not have gotten ANY NEW CAR LOAN ANYWHERE ELSE..
I already see this bubble about to burst..and ONTOP of all this, we have a company GE just giving loans-
HOW OUTRAGEOUS IS THIS?
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