The federal government is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars being spent each year by the largest American corporations. But it’s not tax dollars they’re spending. Rather, this sum represents the amount big business is allocating on lobbying lawmakers and federal officials, in part so the companies wind up paying considerably less on income taxes than they do on influencing public policy.

According to a new report from the nonprofit Public Campaign , 30 of the biggest corporations spent more lobbying Congress than paying taxes from 2008 to 2010. These businesses made combined profits of $164 billion during the period analyzed. But they ended up enjoying tax rebates that collectively totaled nearly $11 billion.

Meanwhile, the 30 companies spent $476 million on lobbying and contributed more than $22 million to federal election campaigns.

The corporations included General Electric, PG&E, Verizon, Wells Fargo, Boeing, DuPont, Mattel, Corning and FedEx. General Electric made $10.5 billion in U.S. profits and spent more than $84 million on lobbying, but paid no federal income taxes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

Corporations Have Easy Time Beating Tax Code (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)