Meet 5 Greedy Big Businesses Who Rip Off Taxpayers

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http://www.alternet.org/economy/corporate-tax-dodgers



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1. Caterpillar Inc.

What a greedy worm! The heavy-equipment manufacturer came up with a bald-faced scheme to avoid around $2.4 billion in taxes since 2000. Forking over $55 million to its tax consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to come up with the bookkeeping hustle allowed it to hold on to many times that amount — money that should have gone to the U.S. Treasury. Like those taxes you pay, for example.

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2. Boeing

Boeing is certainly a high-flyer when it comes to not paying taxes. Though the company benefits from the boatloads of money taxpayers have paid for things like basic research, jet technology, airports, tax payer-funded defense contracts, etc., etc., Boeing repays this largesse by being a tax deadbeat.

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3. Shell

Though not based in the U.S., Shell is supposed to pay U.S. taxes when it does business in the fifty states. Which is not too much to ask, considering that the American government subsidizes Big Oil. Yet according to reports, it was pure greed and a hankering to avoid millions in U.S. taxes that drove oil and gas multinational Royal Dutch Shell Plc to move a drilling rig from Alaska to Seattle for repairs during the hazardous winter season in 2012. If the rig had stayed in Alaskan waters beyond January 1, 2013, Shell would have had to pay millions in Alaska property taxes. This same rig later broke free from a tow boat in rough seas and ran aground on an uninhabited Alaskan island. The 155,000 gallons of fuel and other hazardous materials the rig was carrying did not spill, but it was a close call.

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4. Apple

You gotta hand it to Apple. The company figured out how to dodge corporate income tax on tens of billions in overseas profits by setting up an Irish subsidiary that didn't owe Irish taxes because it was managed and controlled from the U.S., but didn't owe U.S. taxes because it was incorporated overseas. Neat trick!