Pay Up or Shut Up

Disclaimer: In today's post I mention GE. I also happen to work for GE. The thoughts and opinions here are mine, and I am not speaking on behalf of GE.  I mention GE in context of recent news stories. The basis for this is as a stockholder, and not as an employee.

Today is Tax Day. Well, sort of. Actually Tax Day was extended to Monday, April 18th due to a holiday in DC. But either way I am preparing to make my contribution to the Big Government Operational Fund. I owe more than usual this year. Guess I did not get any of those much discussed tax breaks that the POTUS is looking to eliminate.

Speaking of Tax Breaks, you have probably read that GE will not pay any taxes for 2010. In fact that's not true. GE will pay what many are calling a relatively small amount. I don't know how much it actually is. The thing I find extremely humorous is all of the people that are bashing GE for this. I recently met a woman who, after finding out that I work for GE, said that she will never again buy a product that carries the GE monogram logo.

Here's what I find interesting - she admitted that she itemizes on her federal tax returns. Is it just me, or is this a little bit hypocritical? Why would you boycott a company because they take advantage of the tax laws to minimize their tax liability when you personally do the same thing? Perhaps it's the magnitude of the issue. Perhaps it's because they are a monolithic corporation and you just an average Joe working to pay the bills and put food on the table. Rationalization is a wonderful thing.

So here's the thing - if this really pisses you off then work at changing the laws. But to fault a company that is responsible for returning a profit to the investors (many of whom are working stiffs trying to pay the bills and put food on the table) when you in fact do the same thing is just wrong.

Now the question of the day - Would you be willing to to pay $5,000 to a charity in exchange for not paying $10,000 in taxes? I thought so.