Like GE, Bank of America also didn't owe income taxes last year-- but that's because it had no earnings at all.
While the company reported net income of $6.3 billion, once you factor in dividends to preferred shareholders and costs from the bank's $45 billion repayment of government bailout funds, Bank of America actually lost $2.2 billion.
Because the company lost money, it owed no taxes.
"We're in a recession, and corporate profits are way down," said Eric Toder, an institute fellow at the Tax Policy Center. "Since taxes are based on corporate earnings, if there aren't any profits being earned, there isn't any tax liability."
Credits for low income housing investments and losses at its foreign businesses turned Bank of America's tax liability into a benefit, and gave it an effective tax rate of negative 44% -- a big change from the 9.5% tax rate it faced a year earlier.
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