What companies are most aggressive about sheltering their income from state taxes?
A. Corporations consider their tax returns confidential, proprietary information. Thus, it is very difficult to get solid information about their tax reduction strategies. The information that is available comes from court cases between corporations and state departments of revenue trying to enforce their laws and collect taxes they believe were due. State Corporate Tax Shelters and the Need for Combined Reporting article cited above lists 49 companies known to have used “PICs”. Another study reviewed 252 corporations and compared the total state and local income taxes corporations reported in their federal income tax filings. The study listed state income tax rates for the years 2001 to 2003. It found that 71 companies paid no state income taxes in at least one of those years. The aggregate effective tax rate paid over those three years was 2.6%. while the average rate, according to state laws, was 6.8%. Five of those 252 companies were headquartered in Tennessee. The companies and th
