tax avoidance on Radio 4: podcast

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/04/11/this-mornings-today-interview/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+org%2FlWWh+%28Tax+Research+UK+2%29

Listen again to this morning’s discussion on tax avoidance on Radio 4′s Today programme:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

http://news.yahoo.com/special-report-little-house-secrets-great-plains-113759191.html

A little house of secrets

An unassuming home in Cheyenne, Wyoming serves as a little Cayman Island—serving as headquarters for some 2,000 companies. It belongs to a business-incorporation specialist that establishes firms which can be used as "shell" companies, paper entities able to hide assets.   Full Article 

• How two shell firms duped the military
• Video: Shells can hide shady dealings
• Deep End: Secrecy Inc. in the U.S.

Banks under siege as protesters launch 'Emergency Operation' to highlight the Government's NHS cuts

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 10:44 PM on 28th May 2011

Activists protesting against NHS cuts yesterday occupied High Street banks across the country and transformed them into make-shift hospitals.Members of UK Uncut put on scrubs, bandages and fake blood in branches of Natwest, Barclays, Santander and HSBC. Some branches were said to have been forced to close.

Police made nine arests in connection with a protest in Manchester.

Branches in London, Plymouth, Brighton, Glasgow, Bristol, Oxford, Leeds Liverpool, Bournemouth, Ipswich and Dundee were targeted. 

The action was spearheaded by the campaigning group which was joined by trade unionists and other supporters.

Anti-cuts: A group of students make their presence felt laying down on the pavemen in front of a Police cordon outside a branch of HSBC in Camden Town, north London

Occupation: A melee ensues as a group of activists try to force their way past a police line in Camden

The national protest was intended to draw attention to the banks' role in creating the national deficit, which in turn has led to the proposals made for changes within the National Health Service.

 

More...

• No going back: Andrew Lansley warns he would rather quit than abandon his health reforms
• Clegg ignites Tory mutiny on health: Don't let him derail on NHS reforms, MPs urged

Activists dressed in doctors' coats and armed with fake blood had been plotting to enter 35 banks across the UK and set up mock hospitals and 'operating theatres'. 


However, some were forced to stage their protests on the streets outside when branches were closed or police lined up to keep them out.

In Camden, north London close to 100 protesters staged actions outside three banks in Camden and held a mock trial of the health secretary, Andrew Landsley.

A protester dressed as the MP was put in the stocks and pelted with tomatoes.

Barclays, HSBC and Natwest were all targeted in Camden - at Natwest protesters forced their way past a police line to gain entry to the bank.

Support: UK Uncut helped organise the protests which are against the Government's impending NHS cuts

You can bank on us: The protesters are halted by police as they target another bank in Camden

Protesters outside a branch of HSBC in Newcastle were joined by the musician and activist Billy Bragg, who addressed them by megaphone.

While in Brixton one group managed to enter a Natwest bank and stage their planned theatrical protest.

'The NHS did not cause the financial crisis – the banks did and are continuing to make billions in profits. And yet it is the NHS which is being cut,' said Candy Udwin of the Camden Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which took part.

'Here in Camden there are hundreds of jobs under threat and that is why protests like this are being strongly supported.'

Health worker and UK Uncut supporter Rosie Beech, 29, said: 'David Cameron said he wasn't going to cut the NHS. He lied.

'50,000 NHS staff will lose their jobs, whilst the taxpayer continues to subsidise the banks.

No entry: Activists, some of whom wore hospital scrubs, try to make their way past police and into a branch of Natwest in Camden

Flashpoint: Protesters clash with police as they attempt to gain entry to the bank

'Why is the Government cutting the NHS and privatising what's left rather than forcing our broken banking system to pay up?

Dubbed 'The Emergency Operation', the day of protests is the first big action organised by UK Uncut since the arrests of 145 protesters during a sit-in at Fortnum and Mason in London on 26 March, when more than 250,000 people who took to the streets to protest against government spending cuts.

UK Uncut has staged a series of campaigns against tax avoidance and public spending reductions since it was formed in October.

A Barclays spokesman said: 'We are aware of the protests and our priority is the safety of our customers and colleagues and to ensure that the branches can continue to operate wherever possible.'

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391822/Banks-siege-anti-cuts-protesters-rally-support-NHS.html#ixzz1NxiZE0WQ

39 of the Biggest Corporations Paid a Lower Tax Rate than the Average American

Monday, May 23, 2011

The average American pays about 12% of his or her income to federal income tax. Thanks to statistics compiled by US Uncut Chicago, a group that advocates boycotting U.S. corporations that avoid paying taxes in the United States, we now know the effective tax rate paid by 100 top companies for the years 2008-2010.

 

Of the top 100, 39 paid a lower tax rate than the average American. Of these, 11 actually ended up with refunds or credits. The lucky companies were Tesoro, Sears, Prudential, Sunoco, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Verizon, Wells Fargo, DuPont, Boeing and Honeywell.

 

Among the ten corporations and banks that made the biggest profits over the last three years, there were several successful tax avoiders. ExxonMobil paid 2.0% on $171 billion in profits; Chevron paid 4.8% on almost $94 billion profit, IBM paid 1.8% on $54.6 billion; and Procter & Gamble paid 10% on 44.3 billion in profits.

 

Wells Fargo, despite raking up more than $40 billion in profits, had a negative tax rate of 1.2%; while General Electric did even better, with a negative tax rate of 10.8% on profits of $44 billion.

 

Thirty-eight companies paid a higher foreign tax rate than they did in the United States including Sears, Dow Chemical, General Electric and DuPont and Honeywell.

 

There were some corporations and companies that paid a higher rate than the average American. Wal-Mart paid 22.8% on profits of $66.5 billion and JPMorgan Chase paid 20.8% on profits of $43.7 billion. Because of low profits, Tyson Foods paid 50.9%; Progressive Insurance paid 40.7%; Northrop Grumman 40.4%; and Time Warner 40.1%.

-David Wallechinsky

 

Corporate Tax Avoidance Rankings (Pay Up Now)

General Electric Doesn’t Pay Taxes; Why Should You? (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

SALLY AND FRANK DISCUSS TAXES

by Allen L Roland, Ph.D

Only a animated cartoon can do justice to the absurd reality of our current tax code where General Electric made 14 billion dollars profit and not only paid no taxes but got a 3 billion dollar refund: Allen L Roland

Click on this 3 minute video and enjoy.

http://www.campaignmoney.org/blog/2011/04/14/new-video-how-avoid-paying-taxes

Happy tax day, if you’re not outraged, you’re either GE top management or on life support.

And here are 9 things the financial elite don’t want you to know about taxes.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17350-9_things_the_rich_dont_want_you_to_know_about_taxes.html

This coming Monday, April 18 is Tax Day ~ and that's the day when "we the people" will demand our country back from these corporations in events all across the country.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/sally-and-frank-discuss-taxes.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist.Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

12 Top U.S. Corporations Spent $1 Billion to Maintain Tax Breaks, Corporate Loopholes

Washington, D.C.--Twelve top U.S. corporations known as corporate tax dodgers spent over $1 billion in political money over the past decade to help maintain their tax breaks and corporate loopholes, according to a new report by campaign finance watchdog Public Campaign.

“Everyone in Washington uses the buzzwords ‘shared sacrifice’ but the billion dollars in campaign contributions and lobbying expenses made by these corporate tax dodgers means that they don't sacrifice, in many cases, one thin dime,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign. “And everyday Americans without millions to spend on lobbying and campaign cash foot the bill.”

The report’s findings were echoed on Capitol Hill, where many lawmakers are concerned about the pervasive corporate special interest influence in the deficit and budget debate.

"If they want to invest in our government, let big corporations pay their fair share of taxes rather than paying for politicians who'll write them special tax breaks," said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). "It's time to get corporate money out of politics and put elections back in the hands of ordinary Americans."

The report, “The Artful Dodgers,” shows that 12 major American companies from different sectors of the economy—oil companies, banks, transportation firms, and telecommunications and technology companies—have over the past decade spent more than $1 billion on campaign contributions (through their political action committees and executives) and lobbying fees to influence the policy debate on Capitol Hill. Many of them have, in return, been required to pay little to no taxes after raking in billions in profits. Bank of America, for example, received $163 billion in taxpayer bailouts and guaranteed loans, made $4.4 billion in profits in 2010, and received a $1.9 billion tax rebate. It’s political action committee (PAC) and employees have spent $11 million on campaign contributions in the past decade and $24 million on lobbying.

The full report is available online at www.publicampaign.org/reports/artfuldodgers.  

Last week, Rep. Pingree, along with Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), introduced the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 1404), legislation that would ensure politicians were accountable their constituents—and not the big tax dodging corporate interests that currently fund campaigns. With Fair Elections, candidates could run competitive campaigns for office by relying on small dollar contributions from people back home, freeing them to make decisions based on what’s right, not what will affect their campaign bank account. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

~ Minnesota bank tax avoidance hurting Minnesota ~

Bank of America Tax Avoidance
• BofA is the largest bank and 5th largest corporation in America
• BofA holds over $2.2 Trillion in assets
• BofA in 2009 earned a pretax income of $4.4 Billion.
• BofA received $45 Billion in tax payer bailout funds in 2008 and 2009
• BofA paid ZERO federal income tax in 2009
• BofA actually received at least a $1.9 Billion tax benefit from the government in 2009
• BofA took deductions of at least $2.1 Billion in 2009
• Bank of America operates 371 tax-sheltered subsidiaries, more than any other big bank studied, and 204 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands alone, according to its latest regulatory filings.


In its 2010 annual report, Bank of America reported a total combined (federal, state, foreign) cash income tax refund of $6.3 billion. This offers further evidence of the bank’s significant federal income tax refund for 2009.



Wells Fargo Tax Avoidance

Wells Fargo reportedly received a $4 billion federal income tax refund on $18 billion in pre-tax income in 2009, and paid 7.5% of its pre-tax income of $19 billion in 2010 in federal taxes. Its net federal income tax benefit for 2009 and 2010 combined, $2.5 billion, is equal to the Obama administration’s proposed
cuts of 50% to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.


Wells Fargo net income tax benefit ($3.95 billion) for the two years is roughly equal to the Obama administration’s proposed 50% cut to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP ($2.5 billion).



Six banks – Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley together paid income tax at an approximate rate of 11% of their pre-tax US earnings in 2009 and 2010. Had they paid at 35%, what they are legally mandated to pay, the federal government would have received an additional $13 billion in tax revenue. This would cover more than two years of salaries for the 132,000 teacher jobs lost since the economic crisis began in 2008.




General Corporate Tax Avoidance
• Two-thirds of all US corporations do not pay federal income tax
• 25% of the biggest US corporations do not pay federal income tax
• US corporations avoid between $37 Billion and $100 Billion a year in US taxes
• President Obama has called for ending corporate tax loopholes in his campaign, the 2010 State of the Union and the 2011 State of the Union

• The “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act” was not acted upon by the previous Congress.
• Closing special tax loopholes on the financial sector and implementing sensible revenue-raising initiatives such as the Financial Speculation Tax could generate over $150 billion in federal tax revenue each year.



Collectively, states lost approximately $297 billion in tax revenues from late 2008 to 2010 due to the housing bubble collapse.

Unlike cities and the federal government, states cannot borrow money to finance operating costs and must choose between tax increases, spending cuts, or a combination of the two to plug budget holes.As a result of lost tax revenues and projected losses, states face a combined budget deficit of $125 billion for fiscal year 2012, and have already dealt with deficits of $423 billion for 2009, 2010, and 2011 combined.

US Uncut Minnesota is allying with other groups to picket those corporate banking tax avoiders who refuse to pay up is @4:30, 90 S. 7th Street, Wells Fargo, Minneapolis, April 18th - and then onto Bank of America.  Flash mob, picket, chalking.  The Minnesota billionaireseses and billionaires threaten to counter picket!
Oh, my! http://usuncut.org/actions/298  

The Welfare Rights Committee has a rally @the State Capitol on 15 April, noon to 1 o'clock.

http://usuncutmn.blogspot.com/2011/04/friday-15th-april-tax-rich-protest.html

Watch the video about the need to TAX THE RICH AND THE CORPORATIONS! 

Stop the cuts video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ubRX1hMVU  as the Billionaires call for bigger tax cuts and thank the Legislators of Minnesota!

Please help us spread the word !

Twitter link to use:
  http://bit.ly/gJHDzv

Top 10 US Corporate Tax Avoiders Named on Senate Floor

posted by: Nancy Roberts 1 day ago

163 comments

Despite complaints about the U.S.'s burdensome 35% corporate tax rate, two-thirds of American corporations pay no taxes in a given year. In a speech last week on the Senate floor, Senator Bernie Sanders  (I) of Vermont called out the top 10 corporate tax avoiders:

Among those actually getting money back from the Feds:

• ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009, paid no federal income taxes, received a $156 million rebate

• Bank of America received a $1.9 billion IRS refund despite $4.4 billion of profits

• General Electric had $26 billion in profits, and $4.1 billion refund (GE made it onto another top 10 list of top corporate lobbyists in 2010, spending $39 million)

• Chevron nabbed a $19 million refund after making $10 billion in profits

Wall Street made the list as well; the Senator's office notes,"Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department."

Spreading the Burden, if not the Wealth

Given the nation's $1.6 trillion deficit, Senator Sanders suggests that the burden of deficit reduction be shared more equally, rather than hurting working people, sick children, and others ill-equipped for optimal lobbying.

Senator Sanders has called for eliminating corporate tax loopholes and getting rid of tax breaks for oil and gas companies. He has introduced a bill that would raise an estimated $50 billion through an "emergency" 5.4 percent extra tax on people with adjusted gross incomes of over one million dollars.

Sharing the pain...not happening

Senator Sanders says that serious times call for shared sacrifice. Those are beautiful words, but sharing sacrifice seems like a fairy tale in a country where the top five percent own nearly two-thirds  of our nation's wealth.

Despite the Supreme Court 's finding that corporations are basically people in the eyes of the law, corporations themselves cannot be moral or immoral -- they are entities, not sentient beings. We have a system that rewards the gamers, where winners take all, and influence peddling is rife; where the defense for a highly profitable company not paying taxes is that it is within the law. As American families face the looming April 15 tax deadline, it is tough to hear corporations claim that mere compliance is enough in a system where laws and loopholes can be bought and sold.