03/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/12/2024 22:01
March 13, 2024
Olivia Alperstein, Sarah Anderson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACTS BELOW
Washington, D.C. - Dozens of big profitable corporations paid their top executives more in compensation than they paid in federal income taxes over a recent five-year stretch, according to a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released on March 13.
The ATF-IPS report reveals 35 firms that paid less in federal income taxes than they paid in compensation to their top five executives between 2018-22 - the first five years under the Trump-GOP tax law that substantially cut corporate taxes. The report also offers several key measures policymakers can take to hold big corporations accountable by ensuring they don't underpay taxes while overpaying their top brass.
Washington's ongoing fiscal crisis threatens public services that working families rely on, and huge corporations that don't pay their fair share of taxes are a big part of the problem. These corporations use some of the savings from tax dodging to reward their top brass with exorbitant pay packages, further exacerbating the nation's destabilizing income and wealth gaps.
The paired scandals of corporations overpaying their executives while underpaying their taxes was highlighted last week in President Biden's State of the Union address. He demanded the American people no longer be forced to subsidize huge paydays for company bosses by disallowing tax deductions on all salaries over $1 million.
Among the report's key revelations:
Link to the full analysis and a breakdown of key findings:https://ips-dc.org/report-corporations-that-pay-their-executives-more-than-uncle-sam
"Both kinds of corporate misbehavior-underpaying taxes and overpaying executives-ultimately make working families the victim through smaller paychecks and diminished public services," said David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness.
"This report shows how executives of big corporations are rewarded for aggressive tax avoidance while working families and small businesses are left to pick up the tab," said IPS Global Economy director and report co-author Sarah Anderson.
The report highlights the fact that corporate taxes as a share of federal revenue and of the American economy have both been declining for decades. The 2017 Trump-GOP tax law - the centerpiece of which was a 40% corporate tax cut - only made things worse. The report also notes that while there have been attempts in recent years to rein in excessive executive compensation, the pay packages keep getting bigger.
The report offers several key policy solutions to end rampant corporate tax dodging and rein in excessive executive pay:
"Rather than more tax breaks, Congress should focus on addressing these deficiencies by cracking down on the use of tax havens, eliminating wasteful corporate subsidies and closing loopholes that further enrich wealthy corporate executives," the report concludes.
Link to the full analysis and a breakdown of key findings:https://ips-dc.org/report-corporations-that-pay-their-executives-more-than-uncle-sam
Press contacts:
Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies, (202) 704-9011, [email protected]
Maura Quint, Americans for Tax Fairness, (310) 409-3841, [email protected]
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