American companies pay the highest corporate taxes in the developed world, and 24/7 Wall Street identified the 10 U.S. companies that pay the most money to the government.

The total federal and average state tax rate for domestic companies is 39.2 percent, now the most of any country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

24/7 Wall Street said the factors involved in gauging how much a U.S. company must pay in taxes is determined not only by their reported profits, but also by the nature of their business, and where in the world they are doing business — including taxes imposed by foreign nations.

Editor’s Note: 18.79% Annual Returns . . . for Life?

"By far the major factor that separates the winners from the losers is the ability to shift profit into tax havens," Martin Sullivan, chief economist at Tax Analysts, told 24/7 Wall Street.

Oil companies, he noted, are "sitting ducks for high taxes." For instance, Conoco Phillips was estimated to face an effective tax rate of more than 50 percent of pre-tax earnings in 2012, in part because of high foreign taxes on oil production.

Sullivan said retailers also generally pay stiffer taxes than other companies because many tax benefits that other corporate sectors enjoy do not apply to them.

By contrast, companies with intangible assets, such as software and pharmaceutical companies, pay considerably less than those in some other industries do.

For example, even though they were among the largest taxpayers, Microsoft had an effective tax rate of only 19 percent, IBM's rate was 24 percent and Apple's was 26 percent, 24/7 Wall Street reported.

The U.S. companies paying the most in taxes in 2012 were: Exxon Mobil at $31 billion; Chevron, $20 billion; Apple, $13.1 billion; Wells Fargo, $9.1 billion; Wal-Mart $8 billion; ConocoPhillips, $7.9 billion; J.P. Morgan $7.6 billion; Berkshire Hathaway, $6.9 billion; IBM $5.3 billion; and Microsoft, $5.2 billion.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) believes corporate tax reform is going nowhere in Washington, despite the higher rates American companies pay.

The AEI suggested that eliminating tax loopholes would be opposed by lobbyists whose causes would be harmed and would also require ending some tax breaks that are pro-growth.

"One possible way to escape from this trap: just eliminate the corporate income tax," wrote James Pethokoukis, an AEI blogger and columnist. "Be done with it, full stop."

Editor’s Note: 18.79% Annual Returns . . . for Life?

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