Taxed by the boss. (Un freaking believable)

[naaman fletcher]

http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2012/04/12/taxed-by-the-boss/

Across the United States more than 2,700 companies are collecting state income taxes from hundreds of thousands of workers – and are keeping the money with the states’ approval, says an eye-opening report published on Thursday.

The report from Good Jobs First, a nonprofit taxpayer watchdog organization funded by Ford, Surdna and other major foundations, identifies 16 states that let companies divert some or all of the state income taxes deducted from workers’ paychecks. None of the states requires notifying the workers, whose withholdings are treated as taxes they paid.

General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and AMC Theatres enjoy deals to keep state taxes deducted from their workers’ paychecks, the report shows. Foreign companies also enjoy such arrangements, including Electrolux, Nissan, Toyota and a host of Canadian, Japanese and European banks, Good Jobs First says.

Why do state governments do this? Public records show that large companies often pay little or no state income tax in states where they have large operations, as this column has documented. Some companies get discounts on property, sales and other taxes. So how to provide even more subsidies without writing a check? Simple. Let corporations keep the state income taxes deducted from their workers’ paychecks for up to 25 years.

[varelse]

1. Amazing (nt)

[dkf]

2. WHAT? Are you kidding me?

[indepat]

3. Ho-hum, just another example of how government conspires with large corporations to

fuck/rob the 99% for the exclusive benefit of the 1%. Oh, the joys of living in a morbidly sick RW-dominated society in which founding principles are routinely pissed on by government.

[Brickbat]

4. Well, states have to show their appreciation for job creations SOMEHOW.

When states are willing to scab on each other for the sake of jobs at any cost, other states have to get creative.

[pa28]

5. I wonder when this will start happening at the federal level?

Allowing corporations to pocket employees tax withholdings sounds like some sweet sweet Republican daydream.

[enough]

6. New Jersey is way ahead of the pack on this.

snip from the article>

New Jersey approved $73.2 million in new deals in 2011 on top of $178 million diverted that year alone under previous deals. I calculate that at nearly $80 per household in corporate welfare based on New Jersey’s 3.1 million households.

snip>

Also a comparative chart at the link in the OP.

[tallahasseedem]

34. No surprises there...

My neighborhood is about to get "reassessed" which I'm sure means more taxes for little service. Thanks Christie.

[Odin2005]

7. It's official, we are as corrupt as any 3rd World country.

[naaman fletcher]

8. exactly nt.

[Doctor_J]

27. Banana Republic

Hopefully at some point our leaders will be Mussolini'd

[lark]

37. We became a banana republic the day the SCOTUS invalidated the constitution and installed GW prez

It's all been downhill since then. Even Obama is not a liberal and has increased the upward drain on income since he's been in office. He's really a moderate Repug, it's just that Republicans are no longer a real party, they have morphed into the Tea Crazies.

[HiPointDem]

36. +1

[joshcryer]

9. Holy fucking shit. That is fucking madness.

[Fumesucker]

13. Still think the insurance companies are going to be strictly regulated?

Enquiring minds want to know..

[joshcryer]

16. Not sure I said that.

Perhaps confusing my opinion on crowd funding with my opinion on mandates?

I think insurance will still be ripe for fraud as even Medicare is now. It will take a lot of iterations to fix them both.

[Fumesucker]

17. This doesn't appear to be fraud, I gather it's perfectly legal..

And I think I have seen you argue in favor of the PPACA rather strenuously, although you are by no means the most vociferous on that..

[joshcryer]

23. I generally argue for the mandates.

PPACA without a public option is just epic fail. I do not actually support it as it exists, I just dislike bullshit arguments against it.

[Auggie]

10. Graphic (The 16 States):

[annabanana]

11. What the WHAT?!?

OK.. this has got to be low hanging fruit. Surely something can be done about this one....

[live love laugh]

12. AYFKM?! But...we pay taxes on taxes that are diverted. Not legal IMHO. nt

[Auggie]

14. Graphic (The 20 Companies):

[pscot]

15. What the Fuck!

The voters and being fleeced and the workers are being fleeced twice.

[dems_rightnow]

18. The workers get credit for their withholdings

They're saving the trouble of swapping checks for their tax breaks. But yeah, it feels weird.

[fasttense]

25. It doesn't just feel weird, it's a con. Workers think they are paying taxes.

Workers think they are paying taxes to the state to fix roads, pay for education, pay for police, pay for state government workers. Instead they are directly giving their wages to the corporation.

Why don't they identify it for what it is. Why don't they label it on the worker's paycheck that it is diverted taxes for corporate profit? They don't. They hide it from the worker. They don't want to tell the worker, the worker might complain. Instead they lie, in order to cheat the citizen of their hard work and wages.

The reason the state governments and the corporations wont tell the workers is because America is big into fascism.

[Initech]

19. WTF!!!!!! How is this not flat out thievery??

[SoCalDem]

20. Here's another thieving scheme that plays out daily

company hires undocumented workers with a wink & a nod.

tells them they have to have taxes withheld , so their checks take big tax-hit.

These are often off the books workers , so the boss "cashes" their checks for them

The employers know that these workers will not file a return, and will not dare to report them, so the employer tears up the worthless checks & keeps the difference.

[Fumesucker]

21. I've seen that one personally... n/t

[RedRocco]

22. I had an asshole boss once who tried to buy my W-2s at the end of the year

[fasttense]

24. This is a swindle and a con. These workers think they are paying state taxes.

Instead they are paying off the corporation. If nothing else it is a fraud because workers think the money is being taken for taxes and then it merely remains in the CEO's hands. This is a cheat and a con. Why don't they take the money and identify it for what it is - forced corporate charity. Instead they hide it by claiming it is a state tax.

You know why they are lying like this? Because if they came out and put on the pay check a line item for forced corporate charity workers would complain. Instead it is easier to lie to the workers.

[KurtNYC]

29. This tax deferred arrangement does not affect how much employees pay in state taxes

in spite of what the headline says.

[Capt. Obvious]

26. Could you claim exempt on W4 - pay off fed later and not owe the state?

or pay off state later and screw your company out of this f'd up arrangement?

[coalition_unwilling]

28. Wake up and smell the fascism - n/t

[Proud Liberal Dem]

30. WTF?!

and I imagine that some of these states are the same ones screaming about having to cut services, pensions, bust labor unions, etc. in order to "balance the budget" and remain fiscally solvent, right? This means that states could technically have had a lot more money to work with to balance their budgets but allowed the money to continue to go to these companies instead, right?



Unf**kingbelievable!

[Javaman]

31. Welcome to the new company store...

Last edited Wed Apr 18, 2012, 09:13 AM - Edit history (1)

it's just like the old one, only without the fancy marketing gimmicks.

[mainer]

32. so this is what they mean by "tax incentives."

It looks like Maine is losing out 60 million dollars a year because of this sweetheart deal with Bath Iron Works. I'm steamed.

[myrna minx]

33. K&R and bookmarking. Wow. n/t

[Hotler]

35. MOTHER FUCKERS! n/t

[alfredo]

38. Brereton Jones was the Ky governor at the time the taxed by boss law was passed.

He was a Republican when living in Virginia, but when he moved to Ky he changed to Democrat because the Dems had a 2 to 1 registration advantage. He was also pissed at Nixon. Nixon made it tough for Reps to get elected.

[MannyGoldstein]

39. The US has become one giant con game

with 99% of Americans as rubes.