Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, August 16, 2012

26 Corporations That Paid Their CEOs More Than Uncle Sam

In recent months corporate America has been lobbying the heck out of Washington to lower tax rates on businesses. As it should, defenders say, because corporations have a duty to maximize their return to investors. But if boosting profits were the goal, then you'd think more big companies would stop complaining about taxes, and look instead at an even greater expense: the bloated salaries of their chief executives.

In a just-released report, the Institute for Policy Studies details 26 megacorporations that paid one guy (their CEO) more than they spent on their entire federal tax bills last year. (See our interactive graph below—whoa! Halliburton!) These same companies averaged $1.4 billion in profits—which were announced, in some cases, around the same time they were announcing massive layoffs.

The report also looks at how these companies pull it off. Here, for instance, are the top four executive-pay tax loopholes and their costs to taxpayers.

The loophole: Unlimited tax deductability for executive pay
How it works: Federal laws impose no meaningful limit on the amount of executive compensation corporations may deduct from their taxable income as an expense.
Annual cost to the treasury: $9.7 billion

The loophole: Unlimited deferred compensation
How it works: CEOs may legally shield unlimited amounts of compensation from taxes through special deferred accounts set up by their employers.
Cost to the treasury: $80.6 million

The loophole: Preferential treatment for carried interest
How it works: Investment advisors such as Mitt Romney get paid in stock or equity shares (what's known as "carried interest") instead of a cash salary. This allows them to pay taxes on their income at the 15 percent capital gains rate, instead of the 35 percent rate that applies to regular income.
Annual cost to the treasury: $2.1 billion

The loophole: Stock option accounting double standard
How it works: Corporations don't take tax deductions for executive stock options (which allow execs to buy company stock at a preset price) until after the options are exercised. At that point, the options are often worth much more than at the time they were granted. The corporations may then deduct this difference in value from their taxes as "excess stock compensation."
Annual cost to the treasury: $2.5 billion

Taken together, these four corporate tax subsidies cost the federal government $14.4 billion a year. Which equates to $46 for every American, or enough money to hire 211,732 elementary school teachers.

Anyway, here's the CEO graph, which we produced using the IPS's data. You can mouse over the bars to view detailed figures.

Original Article
Source: mother jones
Author: Josh Harkinson

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