Okay about Exxon and the taxes they pay

[underpants]

First off Exxon Mobil DOES PAY TAXES $23,302,000,000 in 2005 to be exact.

Now the problem seems to be that there is a talking point going around (gee wonder who) about how Exxon pays more in taxes that they take in or more than their profits. That doesn't make any sense to begin with, "counterintuitive" as they say these days.


This is the PDF file of Exxon's financial statements.
http://exxonmobil.com/corporate/files/corporate/sar_2005.pdf
Page 38 is the key here.

Pretax Exxon Mobil's net income was $59 Billion LESS $23 Billion in INCOME taxes = $36 Billion. That is a 38.983% tax rate-about the same as previous years.

Okay let's see what the talking point seems to be. The LTTE sates that

Take a snapshot of Exxon Mobil, and one sees a corporation with growing profits resulting from rising oil prices and astute management. The corporation posted profits of more than $36 billion for 2005. Interestingly, it also paid more than $23 billion in income taxes, together with $72 billion in taxes and other duties collected and passed through to various taxing authorities.


This writer is correct but there is clearly an implication here. The "other taxes and other duties" did in fact PASS THROUGH the corporation. This is not a tax on Exxon anymore than sales tax is a tax on your local convenience store. It is a PASS THROUGH it is included in revenue and then subtracted as a "Cost and Other Deduction". To imply that it is a tax on Exxon is wrong.

A further explanation of excise taxes (Haven't they finished paying for the Spanish-American War yet?) is here.

[OneBlueSky]

1. corporate bookkeeping in the US is more creative than . . .

all of our authors, playwrights, poets, painters and musicians combined (both current and throughout our history) . . .

these outfits should be nominated for the Nobel and the Pulitzer Prizes -- in fiction . . .

[Ilsa]

2. EXXON also hasn't paid the damage claim to the people of

Alaska, specifically, the fishermen and others affected by the Valdez' oil spill in 1989. THey owe millions to these people, but have allowed their lawyers to tie it up in court so those people will never see anything. Goddam bastards.

[elehhhhna]

3. We paid that 72 bil in taxes through them...so

WE paid 72 Billion in sales tax, etc. (probably including all their employees withholding & ss payments in there, too) on gas & oil and they only paid 23 Billion on the profits? That seems a bit out of wack, imo, although a 39 percent corporate rate sounds okay to me.