GE 0% tax on multi billion profit

The primary reason for tax laws is to raise revenue, but another valid reason is to further practices that are important to the country, like mortgage tax breaks, or charitable contributions. GE is able to pay no taxes because they got Congress to agree to breaks for programs that Congress agreed were beneficial to the country. It's the other side of the spending coin: that government can reduce a payer's tax bill as an incentive for companies and individuals to do what the legislature thinks should be done, but can be done better by the private sector (either industry or citizens or sometimes both).

Rarely do taxpayers (either individual or corporate) get tax breaks as large as their expenditures for the projects/activities that generate the tax break. For example, people get a deduction for mortgage interest, but it translates into a reduction of taxes that is only a fraction of what they pay in interest to the mortgage company or bank. (If you donate $100 to SETI@home you may reduce your taxes by $28 to $33, depending on your tax bracket). It's the same for GE, who are getting a tax break because they are spending money on some project that the government wants them to do, but their payout is usually much greater than the tax break, and the country gets another power plant or wind farm or some such project.

Don't blame GE for doing what Congress is encouraging them to do.

Actually GE takes its biggest tax break because it headquarters out of the country.

Your post and this thread was originally about GE, not GE International. What's with the bait-and-switch?

Anyway, everything I said about US tax policy is correct: GE is doing nothing but taking advantage of legitimate tax laws, just as you do when you take a tax deduction. A big company like that would attract a lot of attention from federal prosecutors if they were doing something illegal.

You know, if you donated enough to charities, had a large enough mortgage deduction, and took advantage of certain tax incentives you might not pay any taxes either. I just read about a couple that is getting a $54K tax credit due to their adoption of five children.

• GE International headquarters, Brussels

They do not seem to like to publicize much. Source:
http://www.gepowercontrols.com/eu/resources/literature_library/product_brochures/downloads/We-are-GE-in-Europe.pdf

Item 2. Properties
Manufacturing operations are carried out at approximately 219 manufacturing plants located in 38 states in the United States and Puerto Rico and
at approximately 230 manufacturing plants located in 40 other countries.

Oh, soft-one, my "bait-and-switch" remark was just tweaking your nose a little.

I didn't imply GE was doing anything illegal either, I am saying GE does what Congress (through the tax code) encourages it to do. So are you interested in getting rid of the homeowner's mortgage deduction too? That one doesn't encourage building wind farms, it just helps people, who might not otherwise be able to afford it, buy a house. Doesn't that scenario sound familiar?

Furthermore, tax deductions are only a portion of what the company or individual spent on the thing that got them the deduction, and the more people or companies spend (on things that are supposed to be good for the country), the faster the economy grows, so are you in favor of slowing the recovery? What you are suggesting has wider implications than you seem to be taking into consideration.

[Edit]: I like your comment about reducing spending moderately--$61 billion for this fiscal year (~1.8% of budget) seems moderate to me. But then what spending is cut becomes a difficult question.

Your post and this thread was originally about GE, not GE International. What's with the bait-and-switch?

Anyway, everything I said about US tax policy is correct: GE is doing nothing but taking advantage of legitimate tax laws, just as you do when you take a tax deduction. A big company like that would attract a lot of attention from federal prosecutors if they were doing something illegal.

You know, if you donated enough to charities, had a large enough mortgage deduction, and took advantage of certain tax incentives you might not pay any taxes either. I just read about a couple that is getting a $54K tax credit due to their adoption of five children.

GEs tax refund was rather larger, and I don't think it made as dramatic a difference to the lives of those who received it. Just piling more tax payers money on people who don't need it.

I'd say that a couple who adopt 5 special needs children is deserving of a tax break. They are doing an immense service to society and we should help them anyway we can.

GEs tax refund was rather larger, and I don't think it made as dramatic a difference to the lives of those who received it. Just piling more tax payers money on people who don't need it.

I would consider lobbying to get those tax breaks qualfies as "evil".

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