Main Street

Whirlpool’s “negative 10.9 percent” tax rate

Something to add to the corporate tax avoiders list:

Whirlpool had negative effective income tax rates in 2010, 2009 and 2008. Last year, the company reported an income tax benefit of $64 million and an effective tax rate of negative 10.9 percent, according to company filings. The company expects a similar tax benefit in 2011, corporate controller Larry Venturelli told analysts today.

(Via ThinkProgress)

That’s although sales rose 7 percent last year. Whirlpool will also be getting around $300 million in energy tax credits.

Oh, and:

After closing nine factories in North America since the merger [with Maytag], the company still operates nine plants in the U.S., with about 17,500 workers, and says 82 percent of the units sold in the U.S. are domestically made. Whirlpool can claim the tax credit only for appliances produced in the U.S.
Globally, Whirlpool employs 71,000 people.

The company apparently is planning new a research and development center in Tennessee and new headquarters in Michigan, but will that new investment in American jobs balance out the Whirlpool layoffs we’ve previously covered in Arkansas and Indiana, or the rest of the factories they’ve closed?

It’s great when companies decide to invest in the US and create some jobs. But before we hail corporate job creators, we have to look at their records. And when they’ve been given giant tax rebates or benefits or whatever you call it—allowed to pay no income tax and given money on top of it—year after year while they slashed jobs here and ship them overseas, they have a high bar to meet before they get to brag about the good they’ve done the economy.