Do Major Corporations Pay a Lot in Income Tax?

The nation's top CEOs get richer, while the U.S. government loses out, at least according to the Institute for Policy Studies. The think tank reviewed tax and personal financial information from 2010 and found that at least 25 U.S. companies paid their CEOs more in total compensation than the firms themselves paid in corporate income taxes. In fact, while the CEOs earned an average of $16.7 million USD each, their businesses received an average of $304 million in tax refunds from the federal government. Among the widest discrepancies, John Lundgren got paid more than $32.5 million from Stanley Black & Decker, while the firm saw a tax refund of $183 million. Ford CEO Alan Mulally earned more than $26.5 million and Ford received a $69 million refund. The report follows up on recent controversies about sky-high CEO pay, as some estimates show that top executives earn about 325 times more than the average American worker.

It's good to be the boss:

• On average, CEOs in the United States earn the equivalent of $6,000 per hour.
• Average CEO pay has jumped 930 percent since 1978, compared with an 11 percent hike for all other employees.
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the world's wealthiest man, with a net worth of about $150 billion USD.