US: Many Utilities Collect for Taxes They Never Pay

[Judi Lynn]

US: Many Utilities Collect for Taxes They Never Pay

by David Cay Johnston, The New York Times
March 15th, 2006

Many electric utility companies across the nation are collecting billions of dollars from their customers for corporate income taxes, then keeping the money rather than sending it to the government.

The practice is legal in most states. The companies say it is smart business.

But some representatives of utility customers say that the practice, which involves using losses from other subsidiaries to reduce taxes owed, is not fair. They say that money that utilities are required to collect for federal and state taxes — typically a nickel on each dollar paid for electricity — should go for just that, or not be included in electric bills.

Otherwise, they argue, these legal monopolies make more than they are authorized to, and other taxpayers have to make up the difference in higher taxes or reduced services.
(snip/...)

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13397

[Selatius]

1. This is what you get with privatization of power utilities

You get utility companies that serve the shareholders on the board of directors, and they want profit. They no longer serve the people to which they provide service.

[Mythsaje]

2. I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked!

And if you believe that...would you be interested in buying some nice beachfront property in S. Florida?

[Kilroy003]

3. I'm not....

This is smart business.

In which states is this illegal? I bet the rates there just happen to be a nickel, or so, per dollar higher than the states where the practice is legal.

Who's down for crunching some numbers?

[Trillo]

4. This is ridiculous.

It seems that the parent companies and subsidiaries want to be considered one company for some purposes but many companies for other purposes.

This is like a human deducting the stockmarket losses of another person he claims to own. Reminiscent of slavery, but practiced with money. Another analogy might be the great grandparents being the only tax filer, and his family, and their family, etc., down the line, all pooling their income and taxes into one return. Hey, why not expand it to the neighbors, as well?

From article:

One way to make sure customers do not pay for taxes that governments never receive would be to require each utility to file its own tax return. That way, taxes would be paid to the government, not to a parent company.

Did I just read that right? Each company doesn't file a return, only the parent company does?

Corporations sure have raised themselves well above anything allowed to a common surf citizen. Why do citizens have to file returns?

How about this as a response. All citizens should declare themselves members of the same "human family", that ALL OUR EXPENSES are deductible, and we could then all file just one tax return, averaging all losses and gains among us. After all, we're all related, just OneBigHappyHumanFamily. <--- some sarcasm. Think legislators will approve?

[cleofus1]

5. WELL....

shock follows shock....

[NVMojo]

6. FUCK, all we are these days is a walking, breathing wallet for these

corporate and Bush raiders.

[BR_Parkway]

7. Otherwise known as "consumers" - and why they try so hard to keep

us branded as such.