By Julie Wernau | Boeing Wednesday joined a list of companies that have taken accounting charges because of recent health care legislation.
The Chicago-based company said it will recognize an income tax charge of about $150 million and that beginning in 2013, it will no longer be able to claim an income tax deduction for prescription drug benefits for retirees reimbursed under Medicare Part D’s drug subsidy program. The charge is expected to reduce Boeing’s net earnings by 20 cents per share in the first quarter of 2010.
So between CAT, 3M and Boeing, we’re already looking at $340M in accounting charges.
Change you can believe in? Change is all that you’ll have left in your pockets!
Go get the full story 007…. 20 cents a share is the hit, on earnings that look to be between 3 and 4 dollars a share, do the math? That is chump change.
Actually according to Google finance their earnings per share is 1.83.
Pay attention folks: Boeing had a contractual obligation to provide prescription drugs for their retirees; Boeing did so – and then Boeing got reimbursed by Medicare for meeting their contractual obligations – AND THEN Boeing got a tax deduction for meeting their contractual obligation! Double dipping!
So, let’s review: Boeing contracted to do something, we paid for it (reimbursing Boeing through Medicare), then we paid for it again (by ‘giving’ Boeing a tax deduction for something we paid for through Medicare).
How about we ask Boeing to reimburse us, the taxpayer, for covering their contractual obligations for several years AND for the cost of the tax deduction for several years?
Double dipping? Being smart enough to take advantage of the rules as written and you’re making it sound like they were doing something illegal. The crime here is that government isn’t keeping the playing field level. and that should be their main concern. Not running health insurance and car companies.