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For those who wanted another excuse to shout “tax the wealthy” from the rooftops, it's proper right here, and it’ll make you indignant. A research by the Institute for Coverage Research and Individuals for Tax Equity discovered that 35 main US firms overpaid their prime 5 executives in federal earnings taxes between 2018 and 2022. Guardian Report.
The findings are even much less surprising once you study in regards to the worst offender: Tesla.
Elon Musk's firm earned $4.4 billion throughout these 5 years and paid its executives $2.5 billion. Regardless of this, Tesla not solely paid no federal taxes, but it surely obtained $1 million in refunds from the federal government. Musk himself is the second richest individual on the planet forbes His web price stood at $207.9 billion at first of March.
Tesla is considered one of 35 firms that paid much less federal earnings taxes than their prime 5 executives paid throughout that interval. General, the well-qualified and under no circumstances grasping executives of those firms earned $9.5 billion over these years, whereas cumulatively those self same firms obtained $1.8 billion again from the federal government. Eighteen of those companies reported web income over 5 years, however didn’t pay a single cent of federal earnings taxes. (All however one obtained a refund).
The research lists Tesla in addition to different notable firms like T-Cell, Netflix, Ford Motor amongst others:
T-Cell earned $17.9 billion, paid $675 million to authorities, and obtained $80 million in refunds. The cell supplier has spent an unimaginable amount of cash lobbying Congress for tax breaks, spending $9 million in 2022 alone. Netflix did certainly pay some taxes, however the $236 million was simply 1.6 p.c of its $15.1 billion in earnings — and it was greater than a 3rd of what these prime 5 executives have been paid. The statutory federal earnings tax charge is 21 p.c, so sure, be happy to yell.
Replace, March 14, 2024, 6:23am ET: An earlier model of this report cited Match Group, which was cited in a separate report on company taxation.