Corporate Tax Dodgers
Profitable American companies paid just 12.6 percent of their profits in federal income taxes in 2010, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office. That low number is less than half of the enacted rate of 35 percent. Taking advantage of gaping loopholes in the nation's tax code, corporations avoid paying their fair share of the nation's financial burdens. An Office of Management and Budget study found that the United States collected only $191 billion from corporate taxes in 2010, down significantly from $370 billion in 2007.
Sen. Sanders authored legislation to stop profitable corporations from sheltering income in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens. “At a time when we have a $16.7 trillion national debt and an unsustainable federal deficit; at a time when roughly one-quarter of the largest corporations in America are paying no federal income taxes; and at a time when corporate profits are at an all-time high, it is past time for corporate America to contribute significantly to deficit reduction,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate Budget Committee. His Corporate Tax Fairness Act would produce over $590 billion in revenue over the next decade, and stop the federal government from giving tax breaks to corporations that ship American jobs overseas.
Read a Forbes article on the GAO study »
Watch Sen. Sanders speak about corporate taxes on the Senate floor »
Read a report on the top corporate tax dodgers »
