WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Eighty-two of the largest U.S. firms paid no federal income taxes at least once from 2001 to 2003, a Washington-based think tank reported Wednesday.
The report, by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, looked at the taxes paid by 275 Fortune 500 corporations during the Bush administration.
"The sharp increase in the number of tax-avoiding companies reflects the results of aggressive corporate lobbying and a White House and a Congress eager to do the lobbyists' bidding," said Robert McIntyre, director of CTJ, who co-authored the report with T.D. Coo Nguyen of ITEP.
Twenty-eight corporations received enough tax breaks to gain tax rebate checks from the U.S. Treasury, the report said.
During 2003, 46 companies paid nothing in federal income taxes. From 2001 to 2003, the number of no-tax companies jumped from 33 to 46, an increase of 40 percent, the report said.
After 2001, the average effective rate for all 275 companies dropped by a fifth, from 21.4 percent in 2001 to 17.2 percent during 2002 and 2003, the report said.
