Facebook To Pay No Federal Taxes

Not only is Facebook stealing your privacy, but they're getting your tax dollars too. The company made over $1 billion in U.S. profits in 2012, but they won't be paying a single penny in federal or state income taxes. In fact, Facebook will be getting a refund of $429 million. Citizens for Tax Justice uncovered the social network's use of a single tax loophole, which reduced their income taxes by about $1 billion just in 2012 – and even got them an additional $451 million in refunds from earlier years. When the company was preparing to go public last year, democratic Sen. Carl Levin predicted this outcome, saying "When profitable corporations can use the stock option tax deduction to pay zero corporate income taxes for years on end, average taxpayers are forced to pick up the tax burden." And Facebook isn't alone. Between 2008 and 2011, 26 large corporations paid no federal corporate income tax, despite their combined $205 billion in profits. These corporations get the benefit of using our commons, and they make huge profits off of hard-working Americans like you and me. They need to be paying for those privileges. Call Congress and tell them to make Facebook pay up. Tell them to pass the Sanders-Schakowsky Corporate Tax Fairness Act now!