Tax Bill None

 

Sag Harbor

March 31, 2011

To the Editor,

On the front page of The New York Times a headline read, “At G.E. on Tax Day, Billions of Reasons to Smile.”

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.6 billion and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. One might ask how the hell did they pull off this Ponzi scheme. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by John Samuels, a former Treasury official, is referred to as the world’s best tax-law firm. His team included former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress. For a full explanation of these crimes against the U.S. taxpayers, see the Academy Award-winning documentary film “Inside Job.”

I would add G.E. is the largest manufacturer of nuclear weapons. These are crimes against humanity.

LARRY DARCEY