On Tax Day, AAP Releases Research on American Made Coalition Tax Obfuscation & Subsidy Reliance

The research undertaken by the AAP coalition and timed for issuance on Tax Day 2017 reveals AMC members now lobbying for a Border Adjustment Tax, which would raise costs for working families on every day necessities, such as food, clothes, gasoline and medicine, already pay much less than the 35 percent statutory rate on federal income taxes.

Further, these companies, some of the most profitable in the nation, such as Boeing, General Electric, Dow Chemical, United Technologies, Honeywell, among others in many cases receive billions in local, state and federal subsidies while at the same time seeking to pass a trillion-dollar cost to middle-income families struggling to make ends meet.

Among AAP’s findings about AMC’s members are:

  • AMC members paid an average effective tax rate of 16.6 percent, including a collective $17.197 billion provision for taxes on $103.55 billion in profits, according to their last publicly available annual reports.

  • AMC members received a collective “tax break” of $19.046 billion based on their latest annual reports, as the group would have made a provision for $36.221 billion in taxes on $103.44 billion in total pre-tax profits at the full 35 percent statutory rate.

  • AMC members collectively received more than $19 billion in local, state and federal subsidies since as early as 1992, an average of $800 million per company.

  • AMC members collectively received more than $229 billion in local, state and federal loans and bailouts (including Export-Import Bank authorizations) since 1992, an average of more than $9 billion per company.

  • In total, AMC members have received at least $101 billion in Export-Import Bank authorizations since 2006, an average of $4 billion per company.

Our findings line up with other assessments compiled about the low tax rate paid by AMC members, including a March 2017 report issued by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which concluded many AMC members have historically paid less than the 35 percent statutory rate on federal income taxes. From 2008 to 2015, the ten AMC members analyzed in the ITEP report paid an average of 14.5 percent in federal taxes, paying $37.97 billion in taxes on $261.88 billion in U.S. profits. During that period, General Electric paid a net -$1.369 billion in federal taxes despite earning $40 billion in profits.

“American Made Coalition members supporting the Border Adjustment Tax already pay much less than the 35 percent statutory rate on federal income taxes yet would punish middle-income families with increased costs for basic necessities such as food, clothing, gasoline and medicine totaling as much as $1,700 more per year. It is disgraceful that these companies are seeking to pay virtually no taxes at all on the backs struggling workers,” said Joshua Baca, spokesperson for Americans for Affordable Products. “After receiving billions in subsidies and exploiting tax loopholes, these profitable, multi-national corporations don’t deserve to receive a permanent tax holiday. On Tax Day 2017, it is time for Congress to put the interests of American families ahead of special interests and say no to the Border Adjustment Tax.”

To view AAP video on AMC’s tax obfuscation and subsidy reliance, click here.

To view summation of AAP research on AMC members, click here.

To obtain a full list of the AAP coalition, click here.