The No-Tax Corporations Continue a Decades-Long Trend as the biggest and most profitable U.S. corporations have found ways to shelter their profits from federal income taxation, according to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy.
The tax-avoiding companies represent various industries and collectively enjoyed almost $40.5 billion in U.S. pretax income in 2020, according to their annual financial reports. The statutory federal tax rate for corporate profits is 21 percent.
The 55 corporations would have paid a collective total of $8.5 billion for the year had they paid that rate on their 2020 income.
Instead, they received $3.5 billion in tax rebates.
Their total corporate tax breaks for 2020, including $8.5 billion in tax avoidance and $3.5 billion in rebates, comes to $12 billion.
55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits, ITEP report
Examples
Leveraging the Corporate Tax Avoidance Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) 26 of the 55 companies who paid $0 taxes, including Nike and FedEx, avoided paying any federal income tax in each of the past three years.
See “26 Profitable Companies Paying Zero (or Less) Federal Income Tax in the Trump Tax Regime So Far” for more information.
- Software company Salesforce avoided all federal income taxes on $2.6 billion of U.S. income.
- Shoe manufacturer Nike didn’t pay a dime of federal income tax on almost $2.9 billion of U.S. pretax income last year—instead enjoyed a $109 million tax rebate.
- Delivery giant FedEx zeroed out its federal income tax on $1.2 billion of U.S. pretax income in 2020—but received a rebate of $230 million.
By paring the tax breaks identified in the ITEP report, or by re-introducing some form of a “minimum tax” requiring profitable companies to pay at least some tax in any profitable year, we could take a major step toward a fairer and more sustainable tax system.
55 Profitable Companies That Avoided All Federal Income Taxes in 2020
The U.S. income, current federal income tax and effective tax rates in 2020 for all 55 of the zero-tax companies are shown in the following table, and all figures are shown in millions of dollars, sorted by pre-tax income.
| Company Name | U.S. Pre-Tax Income | Current Federal Income Tax | Effective Tax Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, All 55 Companies | $40,482.00 | $−3,497.00 | −8.6% | Industry |
| Charter Communications | $3,680.00 | $−7.00 | −0.2% | Telecommunications |
| Nike | $2,873.00 | $−109.00 | −3.8% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| Salesforce.com | $2,630.00 | $−12.00 | −0.5% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Dish Network | $2,532.00 | $−231.00 | −9.1% | Telecommunications |
| American Electric Power | $2,163.00 | $−138.00 | −6.4% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Danaher | $1,583.00 | $−321.00 | −20.3% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| DTE Energy | $1,531.00 | $−247.00 | −16.1% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Xcel Energy | $1,465.00 | $−13.00 | −0.9% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Consolidated Edison | $1,227.00 | $−2.00 | −0.2% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Nucor | $1,220.00 | $−177.00 | −14.5% | Metals & metal products |
| FedEx | $1,218.00 | $−230.00 | −18.9% | Miscellaneous services |
| Advanced Micro Devices | $1,208.00 | – | 0.0% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| FirstEnergy | $1,108.00 | $−14.00 | −1.3% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Fiserv | $1,100.00 | $−25.00 | −2.3% | Financial data services |
| Unum Group | $923.00 | $−98.00 | −10.7% | Financial |
| Hologic | $887.00 | $−62.00 | −7.0% | Health care |
| CMS Energy | $885.00 | $−35.00 | −4.0% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| PPL | $878.00 | $−9.00 | −1.0% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| HP | $861.00 | $−24.00 | −2.8% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Duke Energy | $826.00 | $−281.00 | −34.0% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Evergy | $722.00 | $−27.00 | −3.7% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Qurate Retail Group | $687.00 | $−8.00 | −1.2% | Internet services & retailing |
| Kinder Morgan | $654.00 | $−20.00 | −3.1% | Oil, gas & pipelines |
| Booz Allen Hamilton Holding | $561.00 | $−3.00 | −0.5% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Penske Automotive Group | $505.00 | $−78.00 | −15.5% | Motor vehicles and parts |
| Verisign | $447.00 | $−124.00 | −27.7% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Archer Daniels Midland | $438.00 | $−164.00 | −37.4% | Food & beverages & tobacco |
| Lincoln National | $423.00 | $−61.00 | −14.4% | Financial |
| UGI | $420.00 | $−85.00 | −20.2% | Utilities, gas and electric |
| Kansas City Southern | $327.00 | $−2.00 | −0.6% | Transportation |
| Community Health Systems | $323.00 | $−1.00 | −0.3% | Health care |
| Sealed Air | $323.00 | $−14.00 | −4.4% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| Michaels | $322.00 | $−11.00 | −3.5% | Retail & wholesale trade |
| Interpublic Group | $284.00 | $−53.00 | −18.5% | Miscellaneous services |
| Telephone & Data Systems | $284.00 | $−175.00 | −61.6% | Telecommunications |
| Textron | $278.00 | $−1.00 | −0.4% | Aerospace & defense |
| Williams | $278.00 | $−29.00 | −10.4% | Oil, gas & pipelines |
| Dexcom | $265.00 | $0.00 | 0.0% | Pharmaceuticals & medical products |
| Cabot Oil & Gas | $240.00 | $−32.00 | −13.2% | Oil, gas & pipelines |
| Westlake Chemical | $227.00 | $−208.00 | −91.6% | Chemicals |
| Jacobs Engineering Group | $213.00 | $−37.00 | −17.4% | Engineering & construction |
| Voya Financial | $195.00 | $−9.00 | −4.6% | Financial |
| Ball | $193.00 | $−33.00 | −17.1% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| Tyler Technologies | $176.00 | $−11.00 | −6.0% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Xilinx | $140.00 | $−2.00 | −1.5% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Seaboard | $136.00 | $−50.00 | −36.8% | Food & beverages & tobacco |
| Tutor Perini | $96.00 | $−36.00 | −37.7% | Engineering & construction |
| Ecolab | $95.00 | $−50.00 | −52.6% | Chemicals |
| Sanmina-SCI | $95.00 | $−1.00 | −1.0% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Mohawk Industries | $87.00 | $−34.00 | −38.9% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| Howmet Aerospace | $86.00 | $−2.00 | −2.3% | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| Owens & Minor | $74.00 | $−4.00 | −6.0% | Retail & wholesale trade |
| Albemarle | $42.00 | $0.00 | −0.3% | Chemicals |
| Akamai Technologies | $40.00 | $−2.00 | −4.4% | Computers, office equip, software, data |
| Treehouse Foods | $8.00 | $−96.00 | −1,167.1% | Food, beverages, tobacco |
An ITEP report explains in more detail how corporations avoid taxes, why this is a problem, and what Congress can do about it.
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