Newark Star-Ledger: The 5 NJ Companies Reported Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Income Last Year. Their Federal Tax Bill: $0

Identifying companies that pay nothing in federal taxes is no easy task, said Matthew Gardner, one of the authors of the IATEP report, and he suspects there are far more than the ones that his analysis uncovered.

“The real number is probably bigger than 60,” he said. “Almost certainly.”

The data examined by the group came from 10-K annual financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But Gardner explained that for every company that provided a reasonably complete breakdown of taxes paid, there would be another company’s filing where it was almost impossible to determine. He said the vagueness of the reports was not the fault of the companies.

“It just reflects the low level of disclosure that the SEC requires. Very often you can’t see what’s going on, and that’s okay according to the law,” he remarked. Read more

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