Verizon has attacked* presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for misrepresenting its record of paying federal taxes. But Bernie’s right, they’re wrong.
Here are the facts:
- Bernie is correct that from 2008 to 2013 Verizon utilized tax code trickery to manage an effective federal tax rate of negative 2.5%, despite $42.5 billion in profits. It actually got money back from the Government.
- Verizon did pay federal taxes the last two years — on $27.5 billion in profits — but its federal tax rate was 20%, less than its typical employee pays.
- Over the last 15 years, despite $121.3 billion in profits, Verizon’s tax manipulations enabled them to pay federal taxes at the rate of 12.4%, far less than a typical worker.
- And on top of all that, Verizon is currently trying to slash the health, job and retirement security of its East Coast workers — despite $39 billion in profits over the last three years.
- And Verizon doesn’t just evade taxes in the US. In 2009, Verizon converted $1 billion of equity into debt, using a Dutch subsidiary, and escaped virtually its entire European tax burden.
Click here to download the fact sheet.
Source: Citizens for Tax Justice: http://ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/tax-dodgers.php?id=273