(Original Post)
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 7:08am CST
U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Citizens for Tax Justice has released a list of 30 corporations that spent more to lobby Congress than they did in taxes.
The report is titled "Representation without Taxation: Fortune 500 Companies that Spend Big on Lobbying and Avoid Taxes" and highlights what the groups say is a need for changes in corporate tax policy.
"By exploiting loopholes and special provisions in the tax code, 280 consistently profitable Fortune 500 companies paid about half the statutory corporate tax rate while spending $2 billion to lobby Congress on tax policy and other issues," according to the groups.
The report also looks at what it calls the "Dirty Thirty" particularly aggressive tax avoiders that spent more on federal lobbying than income taxes between 2008 and 2010.
Sister publication Dayton Business Journal has a list of all 30 companies on the list here.
"Corporations should not be able to shirk their tax burden by using gimmicks to game the tax code," said Dan Smith, U.S. PIRG Tax and Budget Associate, who co-authored the report.
Companies on the list include marquee names like General Electric, Boeing Co., DuPont, Wells Fargo, Verizon and Tenet Healthcare.