Meet the real “Welfare Mothers.”

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, the real “Welfare Mothers” are found to be…

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Over Two-Thirds Of Corporations Pay No Federal Corporate Income Tax

First Posted: 01/10/12 01:03 PM ET Updated: 01/10/12 06:17 PM ET

At a time when the federal government is starved for cash — and facing layoffs and cuts in services across the board — more and more corporations are sidestepping their traditional tax rate and keeping millions of dollars for themselves.

The number of U.S. corporations structuring their businesses in such a way that they can avoid higher taxes has skyrocketed in the past quarter century, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In 1986, about 24 percent of corporations were what’s known as nontaxable businesses — meaning the companies themselves pay no federal income taxes — instead passing on the earnings to individual investors to pay taxes on. By 2008, these businesses accounted for about 69 percent of all corporations, a designation that can save companies hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year

Advocates for the business community have expressed frustration with the country’s 35 percent corporate income tax rate, calling it unreasonably high. In practice, though, it’s common for big businesses to pay much less, thanks to a cornucopia of tax-code loopholes and exemptions won by lobbyists.

The issue of corporate tax participation has become especially pressing in recent years, as the country struggles to manage its ballooning deficits. Corporate taxes for non-financial companies have fallen more than 13 percent since 2007, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, the national debt grew to $15.23 trillion from $9.13 trillion — a number larger than the economy itself.

According to a recent analysis of nearly 300 Fortune 500 companies by the Citizens for Tax Justice, the average company was paying just 18.3 percent in taxes — a little more than half the official rate. And by using techniques like industry subsidies, stock option packages, and moving assets overseas where they can’t be taxed, 30 companies mentioned in the report — including Wells Fargo, Verizon, Boeing and General Electric — didn’t pay a cent in federal taxes in 2008, 2009 or 2010, the report found.
The phenomenon affects state income taxes as well as federal. Last month, another study from the Center for Tax Justice found that corporate tax avoidance had cost states a combined $42.7 billion between 2008 and 2010 — a period when budget shortfalls forced states to cut spending for health care, public schools and care for the elderly and disabled.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/corporations-pay-no-tax_n_1196875.html

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More Firms Enjoy Tax-Free Status

January 10, 2012
By JOHN D. MCKINNON

StoneMor Partners LP, the publicly traded firm that specializes in running cemeteries, expects to see handsome profits in coming years as baby boomers age and die. But unlike its largest rivals, its corporate tax bill from the federal government will be zero.

StoneMor is among the many businesses organized so they don’t pay a penny in federal corporate income tax. And yet such firms don’t employ an army of accountants to shield profits in complex tax shelters. Their enviable tax position is perfectly legal and has been encouraged by Congress and state governments. Known as

Tim Pawlenty uses economic gimmickry as GOP hopeful – UPDATED

Tim Pawlenty (R), Governor of Minnesota, official portrait

Tim Pawlenty (R), former two-term Minnesota governor who balanced the state’s budget without raising taxes, and GOP presidential hopeful, is casting stones at the White House.

At the University of Chicago recently, he said, “President Obama is a champion practitioner of class warfare.” While he is the first to level such a charge against President Obama, several critics accused his predecessor – President George W. Bush – of the same thing. However, the one, and perhaps most important, person to validate that assertion against Bush II was none other than Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO Warren Buffett. In his 2003 report to share holders, Buffett wrote,

“Corporate income taxes in fiscal 2003 accounted for 7.4% of all federal tax receipts, down from a post-war peak of 32% in 1952. With one exception (1983), last year’s percentage is the lowest recorded since data was first published in 1934. Even so, tax breaks for corporations (and their investors, particularly large ones) were a major part of the Administration’s 2002 and 2003 initiatives. If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning. (emphasis added) Today, many large corporations – run by CEOs whose fiddle-playing talents make your Chairman look like he is all thumbs – pay nothing close to the stated federal tax rate of 35%.”

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman & CEO Warren Buffett speaking to students at Kansas University School of Business

While it seems Pawlenty is disgruntled with national economic performance, he interestingly suggests that