Fortune 500 Companies Neglect to Pay Taxes
The act of paying taxes is handled differently by each and every individual. If you are living as what is recognized as middle class, generally you won’t be expected to pay too much in and you may even find a refund check in your mailbox at some point. For the business owners, tax season can in fact become one of the most dreadful times of the year. Reporting all income and proof of deductions becomes quite the task, and many often need the entire given timeframe to accurately gather all information to report to the IRS.
But tax attorneys in Washington ask you this: What about the major companies of products we use on a daily basis? Do they pay in exactly what it is that they are expected to? According to ibtimes.com, there are a handful of companies whose profits would require them to pay in more than they are willing to part with, which is why they have held billions of dollars in offshore accounts. Apparently, about “three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies take advantage of tax havens abroad.”
Tax lawyers in Washington note that the study conducted by Reuters used figures calculated by Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and have arrived at the magic number of $2.1 trillion. That number alone represents an estimate amount of how much money these major companies have socked away, and have yet to pay taxes on. If the money were to be repatriated, the IRS would be seeing “an estimated $620 billion in U.S. tax revenue. Below you will find a close approximation of just how much each of these companies has managed to transfer into these offshore accounts and relieve themselves of being subjected to pay taxes on the large profits they take in each and every year.
- Apple- The technology giant has made its way to the top of the list with an estimated $181.1 billion tucked away.
- Microsoft- With $108.3 located in offshore accounts, Microsoft has “five tax havens” to be exact with all their earnings taken in.
- Pfizer– This major brand “has $74 billion in 151 tax havens.”
- General Electric– With its money spread across 18 oversea tax havens, the total amounts to approximately $119.
With these shocking numbers, tax legal representatives in Washington share with you something that you may be even more surprised at. According to a recent study at University of California, for nearly every $100 these companies make in profits, “$8 is stored away overseas.” And whatever makes its way into these offshore accounts, the IRS has yet to see their portion that is expected to be paid out to them.
Tax fraud lawyers in Washington recognize tax evasion as a serious crime that brings along with it hefty penalties, although the article neglected to report whether or not these companies were actually being faced with any penalties for keeping a major portion of their profits away from the IRS. In the event any of these Fortune 500 companies find themselves being subjected to paying taxes when it comes time to transfer the money back to the U.S., they may require the assistance of a tax evasion legal counsel to aid in the process.
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