Democrats seize on report of FedEx’s $0 tax bill to slam Trump’s tax plan

Democrats are seizing on a report published by The New York Times on Sunday that found FedEx didn’t owe anything in taxes in fiscal 2018, a year after President Trump signed off on a $1.5 trillion tax cut that sharply reduced tax rates for corporations in the country.

{mosads}According to the Times, the package signed by Trump in December 2017, for which FedEx reportedly lobbied hard, spelled good news the following year for the shipping company, which would later see a 34 percent drop in its effective tax rate in fiscal 2018. Its tax rate was reportedly brought to less than zero at the time.

The Times also found that the company, which had a tax bill of more than $1.6 billion in fiscal 2017, has reportedly saved at least $1.6 billion thanks to the tax cut package.

The news was met with backlash from multiple Democrats in Congress, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, as well as Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Where did the money from Trump’s “tax cuts for the middle class” go? To wealthy corporations who have spent $1 trillion buying back their own stock to enrich executives and wealthy shareholders. That’s not acceptable. https://t.co/tfHGRE1Dq7

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 17, 2019

You’re probably paying more in federal income taxes than a bunch of big American corporations that make billions of dollars. It’s obscene. These companies love to wave the American flag, but they won’t pitch in a dime to support the investments we make. https://t.co/6uj7ZlCt6x

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 17, 2019

A reminder that everything Trump and Senate Republicans tried to sell you about their “tax plan” was a lie. It’s not meant to help you. It never was.https://t.co/d9C5AsjgIe

— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) November 17, 2019

Let’s talk about this. (thread)

In 2017, Americans were promised by large corporations that if we slashed their taxes, they’d invest it.

In the plot twist of the century, it turns out they started to pocket the money instead. So yes, they lied.https://t.co/UhyI1SOcHa

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) November 17, 2019

The findings by the Times also prompted viral criticism and reactions from a number of social media users.  

As a result, FedEx paid zero taxes last year, but guess what? The promised “renaissance of capital investment” never happened. The Trump-Republican tax cut was a $2 trillion con on the American public, and windfall for FedEx and every other big corp. https://t.co/Y0xl33xfNG

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) November 17, 2019

The Trump tax cut has been a big flop — huge giveaways to corporations, no visible rise in investment. So the critics were right, and the supporters wrong 1/ https://t.co/HyhDpIR5NE

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 17, 2019

This is fodder for a devastating set of ads about how Trump ran as a “populist” but governed as a plutocrat https://t.co/cVmU90n5Kk

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 17, 2019

Prior to the passage of the 2017 tax cut bill, FedEx CEO and founder Frederick Smith said, “If you make the United States a better place to invest, there is no question in my mind that we would see a renaissance of capital investment.”

But amid gains following the bill’s passage, FedEx’s capital investments have seen a drop in fiscal 2018 and 2019, according to the Times.

The company pushed back on the report from the Times, however, with a spokesperson telling the paper that FedEx “invested billions in capital items eligible for accelerated depreciation and made large contributions to our employee pension plans.”

“These factors have temporarily lowered our federal income tax, which was the law’s intention to help grow [gross domestic product], create jobs and increase wages,” the representative added.

FedEx is reportedly one of almost three dozen top U.S. corporations that saw their tax rates fall to less than or equal to zero after the 2017 tax law was passed.