Big companies have long relied on strategies to reduce their tax bills. But the new tax law is making it even easier, with a new analysis finding that 60 profitable Fortune 500 companies paid no taxes on a total of $79 billion of profits earned in 2018. The companies, which include tech giants such as Amazon and Netflix, should have paid a collective $16.4 billion in federal income taxes based on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's 21 percent corporate tax rate, according to the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Instead, these corporations received a net tax rebate of $4.3 billion. The analysis is based on the corporations' annual financial reports, which were filed earlier this year to report their 2018 results. Defenders of the corporate cuts under the tax law that took effect this year, which lowered the rate companies pay to 21 percent from from 35 percent, contend they will plump profits, drive investment and boost economic growth. Opponents say the drop in … [Read more...] about 60 of America’s biggest companies paid no federal income tax in 2018
Federal income tax
Some of America’s biggest companies paid little to no federal income tax in 2018
Big companies have long capitalized on business-friendly laws to minimize their tax liability. Now, President Trump's tax law is making it even easier for profitable corporations to reduce what they owe the government. Case in point: Companies ranging from internet giants Amazon and Netflix to industrial bellwethers General Motors and U.S. Steel could end up paying as little as $0.00 in federal income tax this year despite recording hefty profits. Some companies will also collect large tax rebates.Defenders of the corporate cuts under the tax law that took effect this year, which lowered the rate companies pay to 21 percent from from 35 percent, contend they will plump profits, drive investment and boost economic growth. Opponents say the drop in corporate income tax revenue will grow the deficit and make it harder to fund public programs. There is no suggestion that companies seeing a dramatic dip in their tax obligations are doing anything against the law -- indeed, it is the … [Read more...] about Some of America’s biggest companies paid little to no federal income tax in 2018
Kansas lawmakers add cut in tax on food to income tax bill
John Hanna, Ap Political Writer Updated 6:44 pm PST, Monday, February 25, 2019 Lobbyists Eric Stafford, left, and Matt Hickam, right, confer during a Kansas House Taxation Committee discussion of tax relief legislation, Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Stafford lobbies for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, while Hickam has multiple clients, including Amazon.com and the Topeka Independent Business Association. less Lobbyists Eric Stafford, left, and Matt Hickam, right, confer during a Kansas House Taxation Committee discussion of tax relief legislation, Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Stafford ... more Photo: John Hanna, AP Photo: John Hanna, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Image 1 of 3 Lobbyists Eric Stafford, left, and Matt … [Read more...] about Kansas lawmakers add cut in tax on food to income tax bill
The creative accounting that reportedly allowed Jared Kushner to dodge paying income taxes for years is totally legal
Ellen Cranley, provided by Published 1:25 pm PDT, Sunday, October 14, 2018 Kevin Lamarque/Reuters A Saturday report from The New York Times found Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, paid little to no federal income taxes from 2009 to 2016 using legal tax mechanisms. An IRS policy known as depreciation is a deduction Kushner Cos. used to diminish its taxable income on properties largely bought with borrowed money. Though not illegal, the filings show how real estate tax codes leave room for profitable maneuvering. The New York Times found Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, paid little to no federal income taxes from 2009 to 2016 — without breaking the law. Times reporters reviewed more than 40 pages of documents that detailed Kushner's family real estate empire's business earnings, expenses, and losses over seven years and found the New York-based real estate firm used a common deduction … [Read more...] about The creative accounting that reportedly allowed Jared Kushner to dodge paying income taxes for years is totally legal
Jared Kushner likely paid almost no federal income taxes for years, New York Times reports
Jared Kushner, whose net worth is nearly $324 million, appears to have paid almost no income taxes from 2009 to 2016, The New York Times reported Saturday.The President's son-in-law and adviser's low tax bills resulted from a common tax-minimizing maneuver, and nothing in the documents suggests Kushner or his company at the time broke the law, the Times reported, citing confidential documents that it reviewed.A spokesman for Kushner's lawyer told the Times Kushner "paid all taxes due."The U.S. tax code allows real estate investors like Kushner, whose family company, Kushner Companies, has spent billions of dollars on real estate over the past decade, to write off depreciation, or a property's devaluation because of use or wear and tear.Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Companies in January 2017 after Trump was sworn in as President, and has sold his stakes in some of the firm's projects as well as other investments. The documents obtained by the Times show that, year after year, … [Read more...] about Jared Kushner likely paid almost no federal income taxes for years, New York Times reports