Your AP at work, Ladies n Gennelman

http://taxfoundation.org/press/show/23469.html

'AP's Misreading of GAO Report Repeated Uncritically by Other Media

Washington, D.C., August 12, 2008 - An AP article today on the GAO's [US Government Accountability Office] new report on corporate tax liabilities contains a serious error that undermines the story's thesis.

The AP reported that, according to the GAO study comparing tax liabilities of corporations from 1998-2005, "about 25 percent of the U.S. corporations not paying corporate taxes [in 2005] were considered large corporations, meaning they had at least $250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts." Furthermore, this claim was repeated in numerous stories.

After careful review of the AP's story, Tax Foundation economist Josh Barro found that the AP significantly overstated the number of large corporations not paying corporate taxes.

"The actual report reflects that, of the 1.26 million U.S. corporations with no 2005 tax liability, just 3,565 were large," says Barro. "That's 0.28%, which is 90 times less than the figure reported by the AP. Policymakers and the public should not be deceived by this story that misrepresents the GAO report."'

Bah- 0.28% and 25%, whats the difference? The point is, the NARRATIVE was correct. Hate hate hate the big Corporations right?