Corporate Tax Dodgers Pay To Keep Loopholes Open

General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

It's one of the age-old Washington mind-benders: How is it possible that more than two dozen major U.S. companies post enormous profits and pay no taxes?

A report released Wednesday offers one possible explanation: In addition to spending nearly $500 million lobbying in a recent three-year period, those companies spread $41 million to the political campaigns of their friends in Congress.

And while most in Congress got a taste, the lion's share of campaign contributions went to a small group of congressional leaders in positions to stop any proposal to close a corporate tax loophole.

The report, "Loopholes for Sale," is from the U.S. PIRG consumer group and Citizens for Tax Justice, both favoring increased corporate taxation.

In January, the two organizations identified 30 corporations whose cumulative profit was $164 billion from 2008 to 2011. These corporations didn't just avoid paying taxes -- they actually collected $10.6 billion in tax rebates, according to the groups. They were dubbed the "Dirty Thirty."

According to the groups' calculations, those 30 companies collected $68 billion from 2008 to 2010, thanks to all their tax loopholes, compared with the nominal corporate tax rate of 35 percent. That's about $481 per U.S. taxpayer.

The companies spent a total of $467 million lobbying Congress during that period.

Now, studying the patterns of campaign donations, the new report finds that 98 percent of the current members of Congress received Dirty Thirty money from the 2006 election cycle to the present.

But the really big bucks went to people in a position to block things. The top five recipients of contributions from the Dirty Thirty since the 2006 election cycle were:

• House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) -- $379,850.


• Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- $336,500.


• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) -– $320,900.


• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) -- $220,500.


• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) -- $177,001.

Exclusively for The Huffington Post, the report's authors calculated the party split in Dirty Thirty largesse. Republicans received nearly $17 million since the 2006 election cycle, or 56 percent of Dirty Thirty money, compared with more than $13 million for Democrats.

Here, from the previous report, are the companies the interest groups call the Dirty Thirty:

CORRECTIONS: An earlier version of this article misstated the time period in which 98 percent of the current members of Congress received Dirty Thirty money. The money was donated from the 2006 cycle to the present, not just from 2008 to 2010.

The article also said incorrectly that Republicans received some $17 billion and Democrats some $13 billion since the 2006 election cycle from the Dirty Thirty. The correct numbers are $17 million and $13 million.

Comments

[Silver Owl]

08:01 PM on 03/22/2012

Lets drag them out into the street and beat them.... Come on you know you want too...

[Mary Emily Patterson]

02:56 AM on 03/25/2012

Not necessary. Hit 'em where it hurts the most, in their pocketbooks. We need a mass boycott of these companies.

[Thenintyninepointfive]

01:09 PM on 03/21/2012

Another thing these corporations do is hire ex I.R.S. agents to work in their Tax departments. Legal but Dirty! Now can you imagine a pub as POTUS? These Corporations will be able to fly a 747 through the holes while people like Paul Ryan and his gang of thugs slash programs for the poor!

[SteveFromEuless]

11:39 AM on 03/21/2012

Without paying attention, we get the government we deserve.
United Slush-funds of America.

And we wonder when we hear, "Corporations are People"...

[jdoeremi]

02:25 PM on 03/21/2012

If you want street cred, the more accurate phrase is "A corporation is a person". Romney is a long-time practitioner so he says it accurately like it's his business mantra. As a person, you can use corporations to hide assets from the IRS, judgements against you and even your spouse. You can use a corporation to own several OTHER corporations so nobody can "pierce through that corporate veil" if you want to be anonymous. You also setup corporations to make huge political donations anonymously. Setting up a corporation is so cheap, defense contractors can setup or buy many off-the-shelf corporations that are properly aged in Delaware or Nevada to make many bids at lucrative government contracts so they have better chances of winning. As a person with a tax id, a corporation can be setup to execute so many evil deeds such as "creative accounting" and also shut down with relative ease after its purpose is served.

[SteveFromEuless]

04:13 PM on 03/21/2012

Very, very well put.
I was going for brevity. Your points are right on.
Thanks.
FANNED & FAV!

[Eric4969]

11:26 AM on 03/21/2012

Does Anyone actualy Think Free Capitalism is Controlling the Market today? LOL If So POOR YOU LMAO Actualy Folks Specualtion, Collusion & Monopolies control the Market NOT Capitalism.. Get Educated FAST or Keep Voting for PROFIT over PEOPLE America You Choice, O thats right your Not realy educaed anough to understand FACTS, because if you were the Republicans wouldnt even be a Party Today

[OGEMA RED]

11:23 AM on 03/21/2012

Communication, Energy, and Healthcare. The life-line of the US public. The "Dirty Thirty" have their soft-white-underbelly exposed. Yet, the meager handful attempting to maintain reasonable checks-and-balances depend on grants and donations to fight the fight. We The People have an opportunity to show some guts and hit'em where it counts. One very powerful first move would be to contact the Citizens Utility Board in your state and become familiar with who has been at the forefront of the energy battle all these years. CUBs' obscurity and opposition has been a deliberate use of monies not paid through taxation. Not all, of course. It DOES cost $ to maintain un-safe, illegal, and greedy practices. We The People have been losing our strength to the bad-guys disguised as...hell, no disguise needed these days. Honor among thieves I guess. Incidently, I have NO affiliation with CUB other than having gone to high school with one of its' members. I'm 60, so that should be a moot point.

[NL207]

10:58 AM on 03/21/2012

Speaking of Tax Dodgers : Why is Timothy Geithner Secretary of the Treasure? Shouldn't he be inmate #825474362 in the Federal Correctional facility at Allenwood?

I thought Obama and the Democrats were opposed to rich tax cheats from Goldman-Sachs. Seems I was wrong about that.

[Eric4969]

11:20 AM on 03/21/2012

Yeh its their Fault NO its Their Fault lol Good Job NL207 Keep the Blame every where except on YOU sitting on the Couch doing Nothing to change it other than BLAMING SOMEONE ELSE lol Good Luck with that.. Do you even VOTE? Didn't think So lol

[NL207]

12:12 PM on 03/21/2012

I think you need to review the concept of hypocrisy ....

If Obama is truly opposed to tax dodgers and corporate welfare queens, why does he assocate with them, employ them and accept political contributions from them?

[AuntFaintly]

10:56 AM on 03/21/2012

The problem would be greatly reduced if the income for tax purposes were the same as it is for SEC purposes. The more book/tax differences there are, the more companies are able to manipulate their taxable income and, consequently, their tax liability. Congress should take a hard look at all the provisions that create book/tax differences. For example, an oil and gas company is limited to cost depletion (company writes off the cost of the oil/gas property until there is no basis left) for SEC purposes, but for income tax purposes it can use percentage depletion (a percentage of production unlimited by basis).

[tbone747]

10:39 AM on 03/21/2012

15% flat tax.

[Eric4969]

11:23 AM on 03/21/2012

I used to Believe in that as well but it will not work for the Poor & Middle Class, The Folks with the Most should pay the Most and funnell down to the Poor.. First of all 15% would not even come close to meeting the budget try 45% Flat Unless you based it on income equality..Look thru out History when America was Strong at the Tax Rates you will be VERY SUPRISED!!!!!!!! We are at our lowest in 60 YEARS repeat 60 YEARS LOL

[Bernard Gabriel Pelaire]

01:58 PM on 03/21/2012

Have you got a spare half a billion to spend on lobbying to get it passed?

[tbone747]

05:14 PM on 03/21/2012

Forbes found this out as well back in the 90's.

[vikramnet]

10:33 AM on 03/21/2012

And still America is marketed as 'the world's greatest democracy' when it's just as corrupt as an other political system.

Imagine how many of America's ills could be remedied if two things were to happen.

The first would be to kick all lobbyists out of Washington. No compromise. Every single one. Send them to the back of the jobless queues.

And the second would be Campaign Finance Reform. Ask yourselves 'how much do taxpayers already lose to the current system?'

Pretty much everyone in Congress starts lining their pockets from day one. And nobody believes the 'party line' of 'we're here to serve'. Instead, it's all about revolving doors and who you know. Get elected to Congress and you really have a well-paid job for life no matter how the electorate votes.

In 2012 money is everything. It buys Congress and it buys whole electorates. Remove money's influence in its present form and you'll soon see an influx of candidates you might actually believe in.

[Mary Emily Patterson]

03:28 AM on 03/25/2012

You're totally on point. I agree with everything that you've said. Ideally, those two things you talked about should happen...but how long has that been in the public discussion? A long time, yet nothing is getting done about it.

Corrupt politicians still maintain the idea that corporations are people and will continue to do so as long as they get paid, thus change in the system is not going to come out of that area. They do not want to fight and throw out their golden goose.

We the people must take power into our own hands for immediate and real change to occur. While we still idealistically wish for campaign finance reform and no lobbyists in Washington, we shouldn't hold our breath.

The only realistic solution we can depend on is the power of the common man to change policy with his/her wallet. Hit the corporations where it hurts the most, in their wallets. We need mass boycotts of the "Dirty Thirty" (as a start). For that to happen, we need hundreds of millions of people to be aware of this corruption and to make a decision to no longer do business or buy from these companies. We should drive them out of business. It would make corporations think twice about crony capitalism tactics. It'd allow the competition to fill in the gaps left by these businesses, and perhaps some of them would be small start-ups and co-ops.

[Mary Emily Patterson]

03:32 AM on 03/25/2012

(part 2)

This mass boycotts would have some very powerful benefits. Corporations would stop being so brazen & would now consider how the consumer views their company. Another is that it could a lot of the consolidation of wealth, power, & the cornering of certain markets that we see in these mega-corporations. When they get this large, they feel that they are unstoppable, shown by what we've witnessed here and in other cases. This is ultimately very distructive to the fabric of our society as it creates more of a wealth disparity between the ultra rich & the poor. The consolidation of wealth in corporations make them more monopoly-like, creating an environment that's very hard for small businesses to compete. Lowering competition hurts consumers but is great for the corporations. J.D. Rockefeller said that competition is a sin, & he was completely serious about that statement.

Now on the flip side imagine an economy w/ plenty of small businesses & co-ops. We'd have a much fairer system. You can see how one wouldn't be able to unfairly squash the other & wouldn't have enough power to buy our politicians. So many evils of our time can be traced back to the corporations buying our political system b/c they covet money and power. Remove their income & all of a sudden they'll work extra hard on restoring their image.

[exchef100]

10:30 AM on 03/21/2012

It seems that the one things that the left and right agree on is that the tax code needs to be simplified and rid of loopholes. These so and so's are the only ones preventing that from happening by buying politicians who ensure that discussion does not take place. Our country is not for sale....it's been sold.

[emmanuel kalu]

10:24 AM on 03/21/2012

if we don't get money out of politic, we would continue to pay this corporation to loot our treasury. it is a shame that politician allow this theft to continue, but at least the dems are fighting to change that. while republicans continue to want to grease the campaign pocket. we has workers would have to suffer for the mistake and lack of abilty by the politician to correct this. it is time we force this corporation to pay up, all this money they have stolen or hidden, they are not using it to invest or hire in american. This are money they use to buy off politician, to pay CEO millions, while they lay off workers and continue to over charge their consumer. time to make a change, vote in people that would make this corporate pay for their fare share.

[jdoeremi]

11:12 AM on 03/21/2012

It doesn't hurt to dream. Many elected officials in congress - democrats and republicans alike are actual owners of not just one but usually several corporations. What are the chances you will make these lawmakers force corporations to "pay up" particularly if it forces them to reach in their own pockets? As they get use to paying little to ZERO taxes for many years, what are the chances they will enact a law to put an end to corporate capitalism? To quote a presidential candidate, "A corporation is a person, my friend".

[Mary Emily Patterson]

03:36 AM on 03/25/2012

I agree. You can't hope that they'll destroy their golden goose.

[TampaChief17]

10:19 AM on 03/21/2012

This is the BIG LIE from politicians on both sides of the aisle. This is the reason why candidates spend millions to get a position that pays less than $200,000. They are not public servants. They are private servants. Serving up their votes to the higgest bidders. Our tax dollars went to these "Dirty Thirty" corporations to the tune of $10.6 Billion. Both parties will do anything to keep this golden goose and the only ones who pay is the average taxpayer. Tea-baggers, Occupiers, this is the real issue you are pissed off at. This is what you should rail against.

[RLaitres]

10:47 AM on 03/21/2012

"Tea-baggers, Occupiers, this is the real issue you are pissed off at. This is what you should rail against."

Those who listen carefully to the rhetoric and look at the actions of the two groups, will find that while the OWS movement did see where was the cause of the problem, and tried to act to correct it, the Tea Partiers holding a different set of values (a totally materialistic one) while complaining about the excesses are the most ardent defenders of the status quo, both in the Congress and Senate and at the local level. Like corporatons, they do not believe they should pay taxes; i.e. have no obligation but to themselves. So, they are not about to offend those who hold the same core value as they do. And, some of us who look at the banner they constantly wave, with the "Don't Tread on Me", really means to them "Don't Bother Me." In order to see that, all we have to do is to look at where the financial and other type of backing comes from. Among those are the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and of course that favorite whose name keeps recurring "Koch Industries" and the Koch brothers, neither of those would support any group that does not support their objectives.

[Pup99]

10:16 AM on 03/21/2012

If this isn't proof positive that money has ruined this country, I don't know what is. Can't touch the rich, can't touch the "job creators".....but go ahead and stab the working folks of this country in the back and balance the budget on their backs. These people have got to be voted out of office.

[RLaitres]

10:10 AM on 03/21/2012

Most of posts in following an article such as this one, where hard facts are provided, are always interesting. Very quickly the conversation devolves into such things as "Well, they are to blame and we are not" or "They did worse than we did". It is either that or whatever is posted consists of little else than "gnashing of teeth" or bemoaning the condition. Nowhere is there any indication that anyone wants to act to correct the situation and actually take action to actually close the loopholes. And, if those individuals don't care enough to take the requisite action, and at times against their own Senators and Representatives, why should the members of the Senate and Congress care? They know full well that the voter has a very short-term memory and will actually do nothing. If they do hold members of the Congress or Senate to task, it will always be "those other ones", never mine. The consequence of that is that the existing loopholes will never close and members of the legislature will only open up "bigger and better" ones. If they close any, it will be those being used by individuals such as mortage deductions from individual income taxes, credits, etc. So, those who are unable or unwilling to take action, such as pressuring "my Senator or Representative", really have nothing to complain about and are just whining.

[Bernard Gabriel Pelaire]

02:03 PM on 03/21/2012

Common Cause and many other organizations have been sending messages to Congress members and trying to get the word out for years, if not decades. It's just that it doesn't seem to matter how many citizens are united against these corrupt "representatives," the money talks.

It also doesn't help that the Tea Party movement was invented and funded by the same people who own or run the corporations as means of diverting the anger towards "liberals" and "socialists" and black people. The Tea Party is just more insurance they're taking out so nothing will change.. or it will get better (for them).

[RLaitres]

07:53 PM on 03/21/2012

Sadly, I must agree with you generally and with regards to the Tea Partiers, most of them who have become so "wound up" that they are not even aware of what they are actually doing, which is working against their own best interests and that of the country. Personally, I have printed out more than a few copies of the above table and will distribute them at a County convention I am scheduled to attend this Saturday. I am also planning to have some printed locally and distributed to the general public. Maybe others can do the same throughout the country. It is just an idea.
T

[Jet21]

10:09 AM on 03/21/2012

"Not all American companies are willing or able to reduce their taxes drastically. Taxes vary more by industry here than abroad, according to a study released in February by Kevin S. Markle of Dartmouth and Douglas A. Shackelford of the University of North Carolina. At the high end, American retailers paid 31 percent in total income taxes, construction 30 percent and manufacturers 26 percent. Financial services companies paid an average of 20 percent, real estate 19 percent and mining 6 percent. "

How good is your lobbyist??