Many companies pay $0 in income tax, study finds

For those that do pay something, the real tax rate paid averages closer to 18.5 percent

The corporate tax rate is 35 percent, but an examination of 280 of the nation's largest corporations suggests that many aren't paying anything close to that.

The real tax rate paid by a slew of major corporations averages closer to 18.5 percent, according to a study released Thursday by two liberal tax research groups.

The report issued by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy paints the corporate tax code as wildly inefficient, filled with loopholes and subject to the influence of lobbyists who carve out special provisions for the companies they represent.

The study looked at 280 companies in the Fortune 500 that were profitable for all three years between 2008 and 2010.

The results: 111 companies paid effective tax rates of less than 17.5 percent over the three-year period; 98 paid a rate between 17.5 percent and 30 percent; and 71 paid more than 30 percent.

The average rate? 18.5 percent.

Some companies paid zero. And 30 actually owed less than nothing in income taxes over the three years.

 

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