About that "35%" business tax rate. . .

[annabanana]

Does anyone have a list of companies that actually pay anything NEAR that rate?

Is it only the poorest newest weakest start-ups?.. You know, the ones who can't afford pricey tax consultants? The actual start ups.. not the kids using their daddies pros to help "get them off the ground"..

Is there any company I have ever heard of that pays 35%?

Dollars to Dunkins you can't think of one.

[unblock]

1. my company pays 35%.

for the time being anyway. 70% of our revenue is from clients outside the u.s., but so far we have repatriated all of it.
we are looking for ways to minimize our tax bill but have instructed our tax advisors to only consider the most legitimate strategies, we're not looking to do anything dodgy or aggressive.

i imagine there are quite a few small-to-medium size businesses that are purely u.s. businesses, especially if they are service-oriented. they have fewer options in terms of escaping the 35% hit. of course, increasing expenses, i.e., reinvesting and expanding, is the sound, old-fashioned way of avoiding corporate taxes, and that's usually not a bad thing.

[annabanana]

6. How large a Corp

(If I may ask)

[unblock]

10. under 50 employees.

[safeinOhio]

2. 20 that paid no tax

Below are the 20 companies in the S&P 500 that reported 0% (or lower) effective tax rates during the second calendar quarter of 2014:

Company Symbol Net income Q2 2014 ($ mils)
Merck MRK $2,004
Seagate Tech. STX $320
Thermo Fisher TMO $278.5
General Motors GM $278
Public Storage PSA $276.8
Iron Mountain IRM $271.6
Newmont Mining NEM $180
Eaton ETN $171
Avalonbay AVB $158.1
Kimco Realty KIM $89.5
Prologis PLD $81.2
Boston Properties BXP $79.1
Apartment Investment AIV $77
Plum Creek Timber PCL $55
Citrix Systems CTXS $53
Crown Castle CTXS $53
Macerich MAC $16.1
News Corp. NWSA $13
Essex Prop. MRK $6.3
First Solar FSLR $4.5
Sources: S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAY research

[bluesbassman]

16. Interesting that Seagate is on that list...

They also acquired the Solyndra facility in Fremont for $90m. Building was valued at $150m and cost Solyndra $300m to build.

Guess it just pays to be big.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Gross or net?

That always seems to get left out of the equation. There are numerous ways, in personal as well as corporate taxes, to reduce one's "income" it avoid paying taxes. And, of course, the wealthier a person or company is, the more options they have available to do that.

[joeglow3]

4. Obviously enough are to be looking to move their business outside the US

[annabanana]

5. That doesn't stand up...n/t

[joeglow3]

15. Then why are they moving?

[taught_me_patience]

7. Easy. Wal-mart pays 32-34%

From earnings release:

Walmart updated full year EPS guidance to a range of $4.90 to $5.15, from a previous range of $5.10 to $5.45. This range includes third quarter EPS guidance of $1.10 to $1.20. The new full year guidance reflects incremental investments in e-commerce and higher U.S. health-care costs than previously anticipated. This guidance also assumes the effective tax rate will be around 34 percent for the third quarter. The annual effective tax rate is projected to be between 32 and 34 percent. The actual rate will depend on a number of factors, including our performance, discrete items and pending U.S. Congressional actions regarding the extension of certain tax legislation.

http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/investors/2014/08/14/walmart-reports-fy-15-q2-eps-of-121-company-added-more-than-32-billion-in-net-sales

[Calista241]

8. Most companies still pay taxes

And they spend a shitload of money trying to reduce that burden. Yes, I know GE and Microsoft don't pay taxes, but 90 million people (out of a 100M workforce) in the US work for companies that pay taxes.

Why not just lower the rate to 15% like Canada, and reduce the exceptions / allowances / loopholes? I would bet on average you make more money.

And taxing companies on revenue they earn outside the US shouldn't be taxed here. They should have to pay taxes in the country the money was earned. We're just creating a pain in the ass for companies to keep that money overseas. And if we are going to tax this money, why not have a nominal 3% rate or something like that. They can, and most probably would, pay a smaller tax to take advantage of US banking system.

[LondonReign2]

12. In theory eliminating the loopholes and reducing the rate woiuld be fine

IF that resulted in, at worst, a net neutral effective tax rate. You know Republicans won't allow that to happen. If the tax structure gets changed you know they'll force it such that corps pay an EVEN lower share of the tax burden, a share that has been dropping for decades.

[Calista241]

13. I bet they would do exactly that...

They just don't want to give Obama the credit.

[taught_me_patience]

14. Cost accounting

It's amazing how "profitable" overseas revenue is and how "unprofitable" domestic revenue is after cost accounting.

[joeglow3]

17. Transfer pricing studies.

This has to stand up to a transfer pricing study proving the mark ups are at an arms length transaction. The irs has a whole division that audits this. Now maybe they do a shitty job, but it is their responsibility to ensure it is reasonable.

[LanternWaste]

9. One building in the Cayman Islands is the official location of 18,857 corporations.

I'd like to know that number also.

According to the Government Accountability Office, a five-story building called "Ugland House" in the Cayman Islands is home to nearly twenty thousand corporations. That's impressive, especially for such a small edifice.

[Glassunion]

11. A few

These are the average paid tax for a 5 year span ('08 to '12). If you look at a single year it can skew the numbers.

Deere - 29.8%
Clorox - 28.6%
SAIC - 29.5%
CF Industries Holdings - 33.1%
Texas Instruments - 32.1%
Visa - 35.2%
Yahoo - 35.6%
McDonald's - 33.4%
Lowe's - 36.0%
Best Buy - 37.3%

[taught_me_patience]

18. A few good examples and the OP runs and hides

instead of admitting they are wrong.