IRS Gives Citigroup Huge Break

It enrages everyone, me included, to see big banks get every possible break from the government. Well, the IRS has just given Citigroup a huge tax break that hurts taxpayers.

The large banks in this country are full of arrogant individuals. They nearly blow the system up, yet demand our tax dollars be used to save them from their idiocy. While I can understand the need to bolster the system during a time of sheer panic, subsequent moves that give disgusting companies like Citigroup a break are absolutely criminal. If you don’t believe me, consider this simple fact. Citigroup was just given a $38 BILLION dollar tax break.



There is a general rule in tax accounting that has been around forever. It says that you cannot transfer the losses of a company to a buying purchaser. The reason for this is to stop predatory companies from snapping up smaller businesses who have a bad year in mass. It sounds esoteric, but it is a valuable and good rule. If a predator buys the troubled company, the tax breaks simply expire.

As you’ve probably noticed, Citigroup is a dump of a company run by the incompetent. It is as simple as that. Well, the company was so poorly run that it ran up losses that would give it a $38 billion dollar tax break that could be applied to profits in future years. A predator coming in, however, will not be able to take advantage of said tax breaks…well, at least till recently.



The IRS issued a new ruling indicating that the loss of tax breaks rule will not apply to Citigroup. Think about that for a moment. The tax code is being changed in one case for this one inept bank. This also means that you, me and every taxpayer is taking it in the pants like you would not believe. We’ve loaned Citigroup tens of millions of dollars to keep it from failing. Now, we are also going to lose all the tax revenue for the foreseeable future while whoever buys Citigroup gets $38 billion in tax breaks.

Put another way, you and I get it coming and going. Do you think the government would lift one finger for you or I if we were in trouble? Please. As a caveat, it should be noted the IRS is not really at fault here. The agency is a subsidiary of the Treasury Department, which means this order is coming down from on high.

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