Tax Time

Tax Day has come and gone -- and once again, individual taxpayers and small businesses are paying extra to pick up the tab for corporate tax dodgers who game the system to avoid their taxes.

Illinois small businesses are hit especially hard, so last week, bakery owners Mike and Jo Anne stood with Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) in front of Boeing headquarters to demand an end to corporate tax loopholes.

As Mike said on Thursday:

"The ability of these companies to avoid paying federal taxes harms us and every other small business owner. It's simple math—if large U.S. corporations are able to avoid paying tens of billions of dollars, that money has to be made up somewhere else. So the burden falls on us."

Each year, Mike and Jo Anne’s bakery in Naperville puts more than $600,000 back into the economy, mostly in wages to their 14 employees, and they donate $30,000 in bread to local food kitchens. And every year, they pay their taxes on the profits they earn.

In contrast, Boeing — one of the most profitable companies in the nation — hasn't paid a dime in federal taxes in years. In fact, thanks to tax havens and subsidies, they actually made money off the tax code, receiving an average $177 million tax credit between 2008 and 2010. [1] And Boeing isn't unique. We found thirty profitable giants — including ExxonMobil and G.E. — that actually spend more on lobbying than they do in federal taxes.

Should a family bakery be paying more taxes than Boeing? We don’t think so.

You can stand with Mike and Jo Anne and all Illinois taxpayers and small business owners. Sign a petition calling for an end to corporate tax loopholes.

Go to