Exxon fraud? You be the judge.

I realize that big business gets a lot of breaks that nobody else ever gets. I realize that there is a bias there and it is nothing new. It should change, of course, but that isn't really my main point with this.

Rather, instead, my point is about common sense. How do you get a refund from the IRS if you didn't pay any federal income tax in the first place? For one thing, if you are getting back more than you put in in the first place, there is probably something wrong. I can certainly understand them having a tax break that allows them NOT to pay their federal income tax. Okay, I don't understand WHY they need that, but I could understand them not paying because of that. The problem is that if you do not pay anything in, you cannot get a refund.

Generally, a refund is given when you pay too much in. They give you back what you overpaid. But, if you don't pay ANYTHING in the first place, there is nothing TO give back. Think of it like going to Wal-Mart, and then returning home to find that the cashier overcharged you for something. You take the receipt back and show the supervisor or whoever you need to show. They give you a refund only for what you overpaid. They don't give you a refund plus $100 extra just for the heck of it or for being conscientious and looking your receipt over and promptly returning.

Its the same sort of concept. You get back what you overpay. If you don't pay anything in, you can't have overpaid. Therefore, you do not get a refund. There is no money of which to refund you in the first place. Because, you didn't pay.

So, essentially, this seems to me to be fraud. Exxon Mobile should not have gotten a refund if it paid nothing in in the first place. They were essentially given free money on the tax payers' dime.

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