In case you missed reading this “just in time for Tax Day” column from yesterday’s newspapers, columnist Al Lewis reminds us why paying taxes ought to make us feel good. Remember, citizens pay taxes because it’s their duty and responsibility; corporations are relieved from taxes because they purportedly provide jobs. In a report entitled, Corporate Tax Dodging In the Fifty States,
2008–2010, the Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Economic Policy and Taxation states: “State elected officials often find it difficult to resist entreaties from corporations for tax breaks justified on the dubious grounds that they will stimulate ‘economic development.’ Hardly a week goes by without a state contemplating some kind of new corporate tax break, either as an across-the-board entitlement for all corporations or to attract a high priority target.”

“Last week, Citizens for Tax Justice updated its report showing 26 of America’s biggest companies paid no federal income taxes between 2008 and 2011. You can guess who some of them are: General Electric, Verizon, Duke Energy. “These big, profitable corporations are continuing to shift their tax burden onto average Americans,” said Bob McIntyre, the left-leaning group’s director.”

“Wars, abortions, bridges to nowhere—you may be for or against these things, but you pay your taxes because it is an honor to provide revenue for your country.

“You are helping the millions of Americans on extended unemployment benefits. They can go 99 weeks without a stitch of work yet maintain the dignity that only a paycheck can bring.

“You also are feeding the one out of every seven Americans who have comfortably settled into the food-stamp community. Earlier this year, one grateful welfare recipient in Michigan won the lottery yet continued to use her food stamps, proving that your tax dollars are so appreciated, she never wants to part with them.

“Best of all, when you pay your taxes, big businesses don’t have to pay theirs. It’s one thing to finance the poor. For many of us, this is a religious or spiritual obligation. But we are not morally beholden to finance the rich. So when we do it, it is an even greater blessing.

“I love parting with more than one-third of my income, knowing that SeaWorld doesn’t have to. It charges more than $80 a ticket to see whales so killer they kill their own trainers, and yet SeaWorld needn’t pay a penny in state or federal income taxes.

“SeaWorld is posting record profits. But, as a recent report in the Orlando Sentinel explains, the fish-tank operator hasn’t paid any income taxes since private-equity giant Blackstone Group bought it in 2009.

“The tax code allows SeaWorld to rapidly depreciate capital improvements, and take tax deductions related to the debt Blackstone loaded onto its balance sheet. Moody’s predicts SeaWorld won’t have to pay “meaningful cash federal income taxes for the next several years.” Who says leveraged buyouts produce nothing? Or as Shamu might say: Stick that in your blowhole.

“While many people complain about one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, most companies can legally get around paying the top rate, even as the national debt approaches $16 trillion.

“Last week, Citizens for Tax Justice updated its report showing 26 of America’s biggest companies paid no federal income taxes between 2008 and 2011. You can guess who some of them are: General Electric, Verizon, Duke Energy. “These big, profitable corporations are continuing to shift their tax burden onto average Americans,” said Bob McIntyre, the left-leaning group’s director.

“Many of these companies benefited from “accelerated depreciation,” allowing increased deductions in the early life of an asset. Republicans and Democrats … ” Click here to continue reading this Wall Street Journal column.