So, you may have seen the recent New York Times article about General Electric. Here are the key numbers: 14.2 billion dollars in profits globally in 2010, 5.1 billion of which came from the US; negative 3.2 billion in US taxes. That’s right, not only did they pay no taxes, they claimed at 3.2 billion dollar tax benefit. That’s billion, with a b.

Here’s something to put that in perspective:

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If you want to feel more outraged and depressed by this, I recommend Tom Scocca’s post on the matter.

Sources:
G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether, David Kocieniewski, New York Times, March 24, 2011.
NSF budget numbers from LiveScience.