Copyright 1999 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
April 15, 1999, Thursday, S-TIER EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS, Pg. 5E-
LENGTH: 158 words
HEADLINE:
MOST FIRMS PAY NO INCOME TAXES, GAO SAYS
BYLINE: Bloomberg News
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
The majority of corporations doing business in the United States pay
no U.S. income taxes, according to a new government report.
U.S. divisions of foreign firms were most proficient in
cutting their U.S. income tax bills to zero, according to a
report from the General Accounting Office. The percentage of foreign
subsidiaries paying no income taxes peaked at 73 percent from 1989 to 1995,
while the percentage of U.S.-based firms that didn't pay U.S. income taxes
peaked at 62 percent.
"Some of the biggest corporations doing over a
trillion dollars in business in our country pay no U.S. income taxes," said
North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, who requested the report. The GAO
is the investigative arm of Congress.
The GAO study cited several
reasons why a corporation wouldn't pay income taxes, including if it reported a
current operating loss or could claim enough through tax credits to offset its
tax liabilities.
LOAD-DATE: April 17, 1999
