Should a company that boast of high profits be given tax incentives that would allow them to not pay corporate taxes?

Question

Enron paid no corporate taxes in four of the last five years even though in March 2000 it was ranked

the sixth largest energy company in the world.

Answer 1

Companies only avoid corporate taxes in a few ways. One is by taking a loss in research and development which can be taken as a deductable against your taxes (Amazon is famous for having done this over the years and paying no taxes). Another is by working an agreement with different parts of local government which happens when the benefits of individual taxes outweigh those corporate. For example, if Apple moved to Wisonsin, they bring thousands of 6 figure salaries which would bring in more revenue than the corporate taxes would. Apple (hypothetically) would then work out an agreement with the state saying that they would move there (and bring millions in income tax of their employees) in exchange for tax cuts. There are other ways to game the system but those are the most common.