27 giant profitable companies paid no taxes

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/03/07/27-giant-profitable-companies-paid-no-taxes/81399094/

Death and taxes are supposed to be two certainties of life. But a few companies have at least escaped the taxes part. Investors, though, don't seem all that impressed.

There are 27 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500, including telecom firm Level 3 Communications (LVLT), airline United Continental (UAL) and automaker General Motors (GM), that reported paying no interest tax expense in 2015 despite reporting pre-tax profits, according to a USA TODAY.

Only profitable firms were included in the analysis since companies that lost money - like many energy companies - wouldn't be expected to pay taxes.Escaping the taxman, so far, hasn't been an advantage at least in the eyes of investors. Shares of the companies that paid no taxes are down 11% on average over the past 12 months, which is more than twice the 4.8% decline by the S&P 500 during the same period.

The underperformance might come as a bit of a surprise given how much time and effort some companies have put into lowering their tax bills.Investors have been paying closer attention to the tax rates companies pay as profit growth continues to stall along with revenue growth.

Companies must find any way possible to boost their bottom line, which for some companies involves looking for ways to reduce their tax liabilities. Some companies have taken advantage of lower overseas tax rates, a practice that has drawn criticism. Three of the 27 companies that paid no income tax in 2015 are based outside the U.S. including healthcare firm Mallinckrodt (MNK), financial firm Willis Towers Watch (WLTW) and insurer XL Group (XL). 

Several of the companies that paid no taxes are real-estate investment trusts (REITs). Their unique “pass-through” accounting, which shifts the tax burden to shareholders rather than the company itself, has become a more popular structure as companies look to convert to REITs.There are a number of reasons why a profitable company may not pay taxes. Years of deep losses have turned into good news for airlines at tax time. Take United Continental, which reported a $3.2 billion income tax credit in 2015 despite reporting earnings before taxes of $4.2 billion. Accounting rules allow the airline to offset taxes due with valuation allowances resulting from losses in past years.

During 2015, these allowances amounted to $4.7 billion which erased the company's $1.5 billion tax bill based on its normal corporate tax rate. It was a similar situation at Level 3. The company booked a tax credit of $3.2 billion in 2015 despite recording a pre-tax profit of $283 million in the same year. The tax gain was the result of credits associated with losses in previous years in addition to losses at Colorado-based TW Telecom, which Level 3 bought in 2014.Lucrative tax breaks can also come from overseas. Not all companies breakdown in detail where they paid taxes, be it in the U.S. or elsewhere.

But the difference can be important to the overall taxes companies pay. General Motors saw a tax credit of of $1.9 billion even though its earnings before taxes hit $7.7 billion.  Uncle Sam got his due, as the company reported a U.S. federal income tax expense of more than $1 billion. But the company's global tax bill was a credit thanks mostly to a tax break connected with General Motors Europe.Investors, though, should know many of these tax breaks and credits will likely eventually run out. United's regulatory filing warns investors as much: "The Company anticipates its effective tax rate will be approximately 37%, which reflects a more normalized rate after the release of the tax valuation allowance in 2015 and is based on the Company’s relative mix of domestic, foreign and state income tax expense."

 And at GM, "this benefit will slowly dissipate over the 2016 and 2017 time frame," says Bill Selesky, investment analyst at Argus Research. He doesn't think it will be a problem, though. "Assuming a decent global economy and a good mix of international revenue versus domestic U.S. revenue, GM should not have a problem counteracting that tax credit with better sales performance in some other part of the world," he says.But when these companies' credits run out  - the taxman will be waiting for his due.

PROFITABLE S&P 500 COMPANIES THAT REPORTED NEGATIVE INCOME TAX EXPENSE IN 2015 *Company, Symbol, 2015 income tax expense ($ mils), 2015 pre-tax profit ($ mils)
Level 3 Communications, LVLT, -$3,150, $283
United Continental, UAL, -$3,121, $4,219
American Airlines, AAL, -$2,994, $4,616
General Motors, GM, -$1,897, $7,718
Hewlett Packard Enterprise,
HPE, -$1,106, $1,470
AmerisourceBergen, ABC, -$224.635, $274.149
E*TRADE Financial, ETFC, -$177, $91
Mallinckrodt, MNK, -$114.7, $215.3
Qorvo, QRVO, -$105.473, $121.241
Vornado Realty,VNO, -$84.695, $722.473
Microchip Technology, MCHP, -$69.449, $345.907
Crown Castle International, CCI, -$51.457, $473.829
Thermo Fisher Scientific, TMO, -$43.9, $1,936.4
Loews, L, -$43, $244Ventas, VTR, -$39.284, $368.835
General Growth Properties, GGP, -$38.334, $1,355.262
Willis Towers Watson Public, WLTW, -$33, $351
Apartment Investment and Management, AIV, -$27.524, $244.459
PG&E, PCG, -$27, $847Xerox, XRX, -$23, $547
News, NWSA, -$20, $56XL Group, XL, -$19.161, $1,294.178
Legg Mason, LM, -$8.107, $367.993
Citrix Systems, CTXS, -$7.484, $311.877
First Solar, FSLR, -$6.156, $540.265
The Macerich Company, MAC, -$3.223, $519.689
Weyerhaeuser, WY, -$3, $503*
Adjusted for calendar year 2015, profit based on earnings before taxes including unusual items