CEOs from several big corporations meet with House Republican leaders on November 28, 2012, in Washington. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Majority Whip.
A merry band of corporate executives is zig-zagging Washington today, meeting with almost every principal player in the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. The CEOs are meeting with administration officials at the White House, with House Speaker John Boehner, and with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
According to most press accounts, these business titans are “pressing for a solution to the so-called fiscal cliff” (Bloomberg), while “touting the virtue of bipartisanship and shared sacrifice” (The Washington Post).
But what’s important to understand—what every press account of these meetings should note—is that they’re not, in practice, proposing any sacrifice from their companies in particular nor their industries in general.
Key planks of their proposals, explicitly articulated by the Fix the Debt campaign and other industry coalitions pushing for a deal, include a lower corporate tax rate—even though many of these companies pay little or no corporate taxes as it is. Then there’s a territorial tax system, which would allow corporations that have profits parked overseas to bring them back home without paying any taxes. (Right now, they’d be obligated to pay the normal 35 percent corporate tax on those profits if they were repatriated). Some, but not all, of the CEOs also want the Bush tax rates extended for all earners.
That’s not exactly “shared sacrifice.” A report from the Institute for Policy Studies notes that the 63 CEOs behind “Fix the Debt” would reap $134 billion in tax windfalls for their companies just from a territorial tax system alone. That naturally would increase, not decrease, the deficit, so somebody’s got to pay—hence the Very Serious pleas to “reform” Medicare and Social Security.
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“These CEOs paint a stark picture of hypocrisy,” said Scott Klinger, co-author of that IPS report, in a statement. “They’re simply taking advantage of the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ to push the same old agenda of more corporate tax breaks while shifting costs onto the poor and elderly.”
To put a finer point on it, here is what the nine CEOs tooling around Washington today stand to gain in the fiscal cliff negotiations—how much their company would gain from a territorial tax system, and how much the individual CEO would gain if the Bush rates on top earners are extended.
The figures on taxable CEO compensation and unrepatriated offshore earnings are from that excellent IPS report, unless the company was not included. (It detailed only members of “Fix the Debt.”) In that case, I consulted the company’s SEC filings, and linked to it. The effective tax rate figures are either from this Citizens for Tax Justice report, or if it wasn’t included, from other sources which are also linked. (See a more detailed breakdown below the infographic.)
Ken Frazier, CEO, Merck & Co.
Merck’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $44.3 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $15.5 billion
Merck’s effective corporate tax rate from 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent): 11.5 percent
Frazier’s 2011 taxable compensation: $5.4 million
Frazier’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $237,352
Muhtar Kent, CEO, Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $23.5 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $8.2 billion
Coca-Cola’s effective corporate tax rate from 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent): 14.1 percent
Kent’s 2011 taxable compensation: n/a
Kent’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: —
Douglas Oberhelman, CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $13 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $4.55 billion
Caterpillar’s 2011 effective corporate tax rate (standard is 35 percent): 25.6 percent
Oberhelman’s 2011 taxable compensation: $10.2 million
Oberhelman’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $459.851
Marissa Mayer, CEO, Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $3.2 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $1.12 billion
Yahoo’s three-year effective corporate tax rate from 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent): 8.7 percent
Mayer’s 2011 taxable compensation: n/a
Mayer’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: —
Thomas Wilson, CEO, Allstate
Allstate’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $0
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $0
Allstate’s 2011 effective corporate tax rate (standard is 35 percent): 17.9 percent
Wilson’s 2011 taxable compensation: $4.1 million
Wilson’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $175,793
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs’ unrepatriated offshore earnings: $20.6 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $3.3 billion
Goldman Sachs’ effective corporate tax rate 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent) 20.8 percent
Blankfein’s 2011 taxable compensation: $15.6 million
Blankfein’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $706,104
David Cote, CEO, Honeywell International
Honeywell’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $8.1 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $2.8 billion
Honeywell’s effective corporate tax rate 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent) -0.7 percent
Cote’s 2011 taxable compensation: $55.2 million
Cote’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $2.5 million
Mark Bertolini, CEO, Aetna
Aetna’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $0
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $0
Aetna’s effective corporate tax rate 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent) 28.8 percent
Bertolini’s 2011 taxable compensation: $9.5 million
Cote’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: $423,208
Frank Blake, CEO, Home Depot
Home Depot’s unrepatriated offshore earnings: $2.4 billion
Estimate windfall from territorial tax system: $8.4 million
Home Depot’s effective corporate tax rate 2008-2010 (standard is 35 percent) 35.6
Blake’s 2011 taxable compensation: n/a
Blake’s yearly savings if top Bush rates are extended: n/a
Notably, none of the corporations represented in Washington today except Home Depot actually paid anything close to the corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Most would benefit handsomely from a territorial tax system, though not all—the interests of these companies don’t always align perfectly. Some, like Honeywell and Yahoo!, wouldn’t gain anything from reductions to Medicare and Social Security—the demands from those CEOs to cut spending on those programs is perhaps nothing more than a cover for their windfalls elsewhere. Others, like Goldman Sachs and Aetna, surely would benefit from a reduction in these programs.
What’s clear, though, is that the sacrifice preached by these CEOs is most certainly one-sided.
CEOs aren’t the only ones with a lot to gain from these negotiations. Lee Fang reports that a congressman heavily involved with the “fiscal cliff” talks has already been hired as a lobbyist.
