[Bloomberg] CEOs Earned More Than Companies’ Tax Bills

Air Langhi · Aug 31, 2011

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CEOs-...3.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

Andrew Zajac, On Wednesday August 31, 2011, 12:01 am EDT

Twenty-five of the best-paid chief executive officers in the U.S. earned more in salary and other compensation in 2010 than their companies’ federal income tax expenses as disclosed in public filings, according to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies.

The Washington-based nonprofit group’s report, released today, examined 100 publicly traded U.S. corporations with the highest-paid CEOs. It found that companies whose CEOs’ compensation exceeded reported tax expense in 2010 had average global profits of $1.9 billion.

Companies in this group, according to the report, included EBay Inc., General Electric Co., Verizon Communications Inc., Boeing Co. and Dow Chemical Co.

The tax expense reported in annual financial statements can differ from actual tax payments, which are confidential, for a variety of reasons.

The group said its findings underscore the need for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code that would reduce the number of tax strategies available to companies, especially their ability to lower tax payments by parking profits overseas.

“Tax reform has to close up some of these loopholes and the offshore system,” Chuck Collins, one of the report’s authors, said in an interview. “We might be able to lower the overall corporate rate by broadening the base.”

Eighteen of the 25 companies mentioned in the report operated subsidiaries in countries known as offshore tax havens, Collins said.

Tax-Avoidance Practices

Legislation proposed by SenatorCarl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, would eliminate many of the tax-avoidance practices used by companies in the study, Collins said.

“Businesses and CEOs shouldn’t be rewarded for so aggressively avoiding their responsibility to pay taxes,” he said.

Twenty of the 25 companies on the institute’s list reported spending more on lobbying Congress than they did on federal taxes, the organization said. Data for the report was taken from annual reports and other public filings. The institute’s website says it works to promote a society based on “justice, nonviolence, sustainability and decency.”

The report echoes some elements of a study released in May by Citizens for Tax Justice, a Washington-based nonprofit group backed by labor unions, which said 11 U.S. corporations reported $62 billion in domestic profits while paying a negative 3.6 percent tax rate in 2010.
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When companies are paying more to lobby then taxes, what does that say about our country. If not for US government bailing out the banks what would happened to GE? These companies use the resources of this country like our courts, and our congress, but they would rather spend more in the lobbying than pay taxes?

pirc1 · Aug 31, 2011

Air Langhi said: ↑

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CEOs-...3.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

When companies are paying more to lobby then taxes, what does that say about our country. If not for US government bailing out the banks what would happened to GE? These companies use the resources of this country like our courts, and our congress, but they would rather spend more in the lobbying than pay taxes?
Click to expand...

These companies are obviously under paying their CEOs and paying too much tax.

Rashmon · Aug 31, 2011

robbie380 · Aug 31, 2011

Maybe the company's owners should lockout out the CEOs until they can agree on a better pay structure.

meh · Aug 31, 2011

Wait, why shouldn't job creators of America get more money than a black Muslim who wants to turn us all into Communists?

Air Langhi · Aug 31, 2011

robbie380 said: ↑

Maybe the company's owners should lockout out the CEOs until they can agree on a better pay structure.
Click to expand...

Gordon Gekko said it best, too many of these CEO and board members have no real investment in the company. How does a guy like, leo apotheker, who got fired for doing a bad job get another one? These board members cross pollinate among companies and jack each other off.

Classic · Aug 31, 2011

Thanks congress! It's no wonder they hold a 12% approval rating.

rhadamanthus · Aug 31, 2011

Air Langhi said: ↑

When companies are paying more to lobby then taxes, what does that say about our country. If not for US government bailing out the banks what would happened to GE? These companies use the resources of this country like our courts, and our congress, but they would rather spend more in the lobbying than pay taxes?
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the recent news blurbs regarding how many corporations have more money "in the bank" then the treasury.

And we wonder why the country has a deficit.

SamFisher · Aug 31, 2011

robbie380 said: ↑

Maybe the company's owners should lockout out the CEOs until they can agree on a better pay structure.
Click to expand...

They should, but the best they get is a non-binding advisory vote on executive pay.

JuanValdez · Aug 31, 2011

Should a company pay more in taxes than they pay their CEO? I think I missed a step here somewhere....

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[Bloomberg] CEOs Earned More Than Companies’ Tax Bills

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