26 Big Firms Paid More to CEOs Than to US in Taxes

A new study that might set your blood boiling finds that 26 large US companies, each of which generated an average of more than $1 billion in net income last year, paid more to their CEOs than they paid to the federal government in taxes last year. The CEOs received an average of $20.4 million while the companies paid little to no federal tax, according to regulatory filings analyzed by the Institute for Policy Studies, which the AP refers to as "a liberal-leaning think tank." Eighteen of the companies actually received refunds or credits against future taxes.

The companies include:

• Boeing, which got a $605 million tax refund and paid its CEO $18.4 million. (A spokesperson says the company actually paid $1.3 billion in taxes.)
• Citigroup, which received a net $144 million in tax benefits and paid its CEO $14.9 million.
• AT&T, which saved $5.2 billion in taxes using accelerated depreciation and paid its CEO $18.7 million.

The study blasts the corporate tax code, claiming massive deductions and credits are enabling "bloated CEO pay." But the study did not take deferred taxes—which will theoretically be paid some time in the future—into account. Click for more details. (More executive pay stories.)