Free Ride?
I love how The Tax Foundation can put things into perspective so simply and eloquently.
“While the oil companies experience record profits, the federal government has been giving them a free ride,” Jeff Rickert, vice president of the Apollo Alliance, charged during a news conference Tuesday.
In the most recent flap over “excessive†profits, ExxonMobil reported paying over $26 Billion in federal, state, and local taxes in the third quarter alone – roughly two and a half times what they made in net profits.
Income taxes: $7.68 billion
Excise taxes: $7.76 billion
All other taxes: $10.79 billionTotal taxes remitted/paid: $26.24 billion
That has to be the most expensive “free ride†in history.
I made the same point over a year ago when congress was actually pondering a windfall tax. Maybe they should tax themselves – talk about greed and wanting their dirty grubs on more money…
http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com/2005/11/gas-windfall-tax.html
“Exxon Mobil paid $25.8 BILLION in taxes the 3rd Quarter. They were in a 41.8% tax bracket. This means that they took in about $61.7 Billion and were left with around $35.9 Billion. After their expenditures, they profited less than 17% of their total earnings.”
“Finally, the citizens and government officials seem to be really upset that Exxon Mobil made nearly $10 Billion in the quarter. Putting this chart to practical use, please note that the Government profited $4 Billion more in 3Q 2005 than in 3Q 2004. We have to have some accountability here. The government took in nearly three times more money ($25 Billion) than Exxon’s net profits ($9.9 Billion) and they are wanting more.”
In other words, you can juggle the numbers any way you want to make anyone the bad guy.
Big companies make big money, Big Government spends big money.