Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, was among 55 major U.S. businesses that paid no federal income tax in 2020, according to a new report.
According to documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the cloud account had $ 2.6 billion in net revenue in the 2021 financial year. Instead of paying about half a billion dollars in taxes – based on the 21% tax rate – the company receives a refund of $ 12 million, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank that issued the report. .
According to the institute, Salesforce had no net tax liability, with a net effective tax rate of -0.1%. FedEx and Hewlett-Packard, based on Palo Alto, were among the other companies that did not pay federal taxes.
According to the institute, Salesforce benefited from writing off expenses for export options. According to the report, the semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices and Nike also took advantage of the practice and paid taxes.
Salesforce has more than 10,000 employees in San Francisco and is the city’s largest private employer. The company declined to comment.
Other tax benefits used by companies include credits for research and experimentation, credits for renewable energy, and businesses that write off capital investments.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was in favor of a 2018 San Francisco tax measure, Proposition C, which he said would increase the company’s annual tax by $ 10 million to $ 12 million, which he as’ described an insignificant amount.
The measure, to fund housing and homelessness services, is a year after the Trump administration and Congress reduced corporate income taxes from 35% to 21%, which has benefited Salesforce and many other businesses.
Salesforce told Wired magazine in 2019 that it did not take a stand on the federal tax cuts and that it was campaigning for two small articles.
The company said earlier that it had contributed more than $ 150 million to philanthropic efforts in the Bay Area, including initiatives for education, homelessness, small business assistance and labor force training.
Roland Li is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email Address: [email protected] Twitter: @rolandlisf