How To Succeed at Business Without Trying

Or at least paying no taxes!

Here's a bit from a NY Times article about General Electric and its ability to live the good life thanks to the tax payers of the US:

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

Yes... America has the best government that big corporations can buy. Thanks to the never-ending generosity of the American taxpayer, big corporations get a free ride. Not just a free ride, but subsidies! All thanks to the generous spirit of the American people. The same people who are now cutting education and public services, that has state governments like Michigan seizing local governments and shutting them down because of deficits. All so that big corporations like GE can enjoy the good life!

This skewed social policy has consequences:

... critics say the use of so many shelters amounts to corporate welfare, allowing G.E. not just to avoid taxes on profitable overseas lending but also to amass tax credits and write-offs that can be used to reduce taxes on billions of dollars of profit from domestic manufacturing. They say that the assertive tax avoidance of multinationals like G.E. not only shortchanges the Treasury, but also harms the economy by discouraging investment and hiring in the United States.

I remember as a kid reading about Howard Huges, the richest man in the world, who paid no taxes! He used tax evasion to amass his billions in the 1930s through the 1970s. Not only did he evade taxes, he used fraud to bilk the US government out of money, e.g. his infamous "Spruce Goose". What I don't understand about the ultra-rich: why are they so greedy? You can't take it with you! Howard Hughes died leaving his billions behind in his HHMI trust. Now that beast lives on making more money than it gives out in charity, so it continues to grow (see here). In effect Howard Hughes is a zombie, still trampling about via his living dead presences as a "charitable institute". Wierd!

Why is it the policy of the US government to favour corporations and zombies like Howard Hughes over living breathing families with their pressing current needs for food, shelter, clothing, education, etc.? Why cut services to people so that corporations and the ultra-rich can enjoy ever more "tax cuts" and a bigger share of the economic pie? When will this all end?