What the Top U.S. Companies Pay in Taxes by Christopher Helman “…we took a look at the 2010 annual reports of the 20 most profitable U.S. companies. Some of the results may surprise you. The average income tax rate within the group was 25.4%. America’s three biggest oil companies, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM – News), Chevron (NYSE: CVX – News) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP – News), all endure income tax burdens of more than 40% — higher than the statutory U.S. rate of 35%. Exxon, with a 45% rate, tallied $21.6 billion in worldwide income taxes for 2010. Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT – News) paid $7.1 billion (at a rate of 32.4%) in income taxes.”