Facebook received some pretty significant tax breaks for 2012 that brought them a tax refund of $429 million despite a profit for the year of $1.1 billion. Bloomberg Businessweek Feb. 15, reports that stock options and restricted stock options used as compensation resulted in this tax scenario for the social media giant.
Bloomberg Businessweek explains that Facebook's actual financial statement does not present Facebook's tax refund so simply. It shows a $559 million in federal tax liability in 2012. A footnote shows that the company also had a $1.03 billion “excess tax benefit” last year. That’s where the tax refund comes in.
A spokesman for Facebook refused to discuss the tax refund, but did point out to Bloomberg Businessweek that the company completed the fiscal year with almost $10 billion in cash and investments, giving them “great flexibility and risk protection.”
If you want to check your tax liability for 2012, efile has an online estimating tool that may be helpful. Click here. You may find that your income tax scenario is not quite so rosy.
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