GE Pays Zero Tax on Profits

Grand Rapids, MI -- (SBWire) -- 04/25/2011 -- Dennis Tubbergen is a financial advisor, advisor to financial advisors, author and radio talk show host. Tubbergen has an online blog and writes a monthly newsletter called Moving Markets™ that helps keep readers informed as to what is happening in the financial world, not just in the U.S., but abroad.

Tubbergen frequently writes about items in the news that he finds absurd. One of his latest topics?

General Electric.

“ABC News reported that GE paid zero taxes last year in spite of generating profits in excess of $14 billion,” cites Tubbergen. “Needless to say, many Americans are outraged.”

Tubbergen quotes the ABC piece as saying, “The top tax bracket for U.S. corporations stands at 35 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. So how is it that a giant of American business, General Electric, paid nothing in federal taxes last year, even as it made billions in profits?”

The news piece goes on to say that GE’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, has been advising President Obama, even though our president has spent the past two years discussing the need for corporate tax reform and insisting we should “Simplify, eliminate loopholes, treat everybody fairly.”

Perhaps most appalling? ABC News states last year was the second year in a row that GE paid no taxes while recording billions in profits. ABC noted most of GE’s profits were offshore and the company even received a $3.2 billion tax benefit.

“Fair?” asks Tubbergen. “Of course not. But it’s the way the tax code works.”

Tubbergen goes on to explain the Honorable Learned Hand, U.S. Appeals Court Justice, once said there are two tax systems in the United States: one for the informed and one for the uninformed.

“If you’re among the 50 percent of the population that still pays taxes, you may want to look into the tax system for the informed,” concludes Tubbergen. “GE does.”

Dennis Tubbergen has been in the financial industry for over 25 years and has his corporate offices in the USA Wealth Management Building in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tubbergen is CEO of USA Wealth Management, LLC and has an online blog that can be viewed at http://www.dennistubbergen.com. His weekly talk show The Everything Financial Radio Show is simulcast on two Michigan metro stations and also airs to over 600,000 financial advisors, with recent podcasts available at http://www.everythingfinancialradio.com.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the writer and not necessarily those of USA Wealth Management, LLC. This update may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements as to future events that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those that were forecasted. Therefore, no forecast should be construed as a guarantee.

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