By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-959643.mp3
Albany, NY – A report in the New York Times says that while General Electric earned $14.2 billion last year $5.1 billion of it from U.S. operations GE paid no federal taxes... Capital District Bureau chief Dave Lucas finds there is more to the story.
The New York Times reported that GE's tax bill amounted to zero in 2010 - the newspaper credits GE's "fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore." Ann Eisele is the Director of Financial Communications at GE Corporate in Fairfield, CT - she believes the article provides a distorted and somewhat misleading account of GE's tax payments.
GE had ample earnings last year -- just not in the United States. Eisele notes that this is the first time in decades that GE has reported negative U.S. pretax income and it reflects the worst economy since the Great Depression. She explains that the "tax benefit" being reported today is not a refund or a rebate.
The Times attributes this quote --- "in our system, there are corporations that view their tax departments as a profit center" --- to Len Burman with the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, who concedes that "system" is ingrained in corporate culture.