When Firms Pay CEOs More Than Uncle Sam, the Tax System Is Broken

Outrageous!

Twenty-five of the 100 highest-paid U.S. chief executives pocketed more in pay last year than their companies paid in federal income taxes. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of stat that really gets my bacon sizzling — yet more evidence of how the 1% live in a bizarro parallel universe where the normal rules don't apply. A recent report from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies found that weak profits weren't to blame for the 25 companies' relatively low tax bills. All had more than $1 billion in pretax income, according to regulatory filings. Yet thanks to a variety of tax breaks and loopholes, each of these companies was able to lavish an average of $20.6 million on its CEO and pay less than that amount to Uncle Sam. And two of the companies — Citigroup and American International Group — have received billions of dollars in bailout cash from taxpayers.