Companies generate trillions annually in operating cash flow, but how much of that actually translates into federal income tax paid? Using cash-based metrics and EDGAR filings, I’ve aggregated calendar-year estimates of both cash flow and taxes paid by industry. Here’s what the data reveals.
Data Preparation
Companies often have fiscal years that differ from the calendar year. This makes it less straightforward to calculate a company’s annual cash inflows and tax payments based strictly on calendar-year reporting. To enable meaningful analysis on a consistent calendar-year basis, the cash flow and tax payments reported in EDGAR will be prorated according to each company’s fiscal year, and then aggregated to form calendar-year estimates of operating cash flow and tax payments.
EDGAR filings can occasionally contain errors. AMERISERV Financial Inc. (CIK: 0000707605) will be excluded from the analysis due to an anomalous 2023 income tax payment figure of $625,000,000,000 reported in the most recently pulled data (as of 2025-03-07 23:27:44 from the EDGAR system). According to the company’s 10-K filing, the correct income tax paid was $6,073,000—a negligible amount relative to the other values presented above.
Why Use Operating Cash Flow?
While net income is the commonly used measure in earnings reports, it can be influenced by non-cash items, accounting practices, or tax strategies. Operating cash flow provides a more accurate and tangible representation of a company’s actual cash-generating capabilities.
It reflects liquidity generated from core business operations.
It is less prone to accounting adjustments.
Understanding how companies fund operations, pay dividends, and contribute taxes is highly relevant to this topic.
By combining cash flow with taxes paid, this perspective presents an alternative, cash-based approach to understanding corporate fiscal contributions. It becomes particularly valuable when comparing across industries with varying tax optimization strategies..
2023 Top 5 Industry Leaders by Operating Cash Flow: Finance, Tech, Energy & Transportation, Manufacturing, and Trade & Services
Finance
Entity
Cash Flow ($)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc
49,196,000,000
Bank Of America Corporation
44,982,000,000
Wells Fargo & Company/MN
40,358,000,000
American Express Company
37,118,000,000
Unitedhealth Group Incorporated
29,068,000,000
Tech
Entity
Cash Flow ($)
Microsoft Corporation
206,057,951,224
Apple Inc.
111,231,335,891
Alphabet Inc.
101,746,000,000
Meta Platforms, Inc.
71,113,000,000
Comcast Corporation
57,002,000,000
Energy & Transportation
Entity
Cash Flow ($)
Exxon Mobil Corporation
55,369,000,000
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
49,232,000,000
Chevron Corp
35,609,000,000
Marathon Petroleum Corporation
28,234,000,000
Nextera Energy Inc
22,602,000,000
Manufacturing
Entity
Cash Flow ($)
Nvidia Corp
26,378,651,099
General Motors Company
20,930,000,000
Altria Group, Inc.
18,574,000,000
Philip Morris International Inc.
18,408,000,000
Broadcom Inc.
18,394,361,497
Trade & Services
Entity
Cash Flow ($)
Amazon.com, Inc.
84,946,000,000
Walmart Inc.
35,141,246,575
Home Depot, Inc.
20,707,766,484
Visa Inc.
20,538,356,838
McDonald's Corporation
19,223,900,000
2023 Top 5 Industry Taxpayers: Finance, Tech, Energy & Transportation, Manufacturing, and Trade & Services
Finance
Entity
Taxes Paid ($)
JPMorgan Chase & Co
9,908,000,000
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC
7,765,000,000
American Express Co
6,600,000,000
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
6,078,000,000
Citigroup Inc
5,727,000,000
Tech
Entity
Taxes Paid ($)
Microsoft Corporation
46,438,005,839
Apple Inc.
20,342,133,320
Alphabet Inc.
19,200,000,000
COMCAST CORPORATION
10,214,000,000
Meta Platforms, Inc.
6,607,000,000
Energy & Transportation
Entity
Taxes Paid ($)
Exxon Mobil Corporation
15,473,000,000
Chevron Corp
10,416,000,000
ConocoPhillips
5,406,000,000
IMPERIAL OIL LIMITED
4,153,000,000
VALERO ENERGY CORP/TX
3,494,000,000
Manufacturing
Entity
Taxes Paid ($)
NVIDIA CORP
6,157,087,912
PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL INC.
5,904,000,000
Altria Group, Inc.
3,780,000,000
Honeywell International Inc
3,162,000,000
EMERSON ELECTRIC CO.
2,714,496,444
Trade & Services
Entity
Taxes Paid ($)
AMAZON.COM, INC.
11,179,000,000
McDONALD'S CORPORATION
5,985,900,000
WALMART INC.
5,660,810,959
HOME DEPOT, INC.
5,069,623,626
VISA INC.
4,019,335,235
Operating Cash Flow and Taxes Paid by U.S. Industry
This visualization presents a breakdown of operating cash flow and income taxes paid by U.S. industries, utilizing data reported in EDGAR filings. Each bar represents a calendar year, with stacked segments for each industry. This allows us to observe how various sectors have contributed to the U.S. corporate economy in terms of cash generation and tax payments.
Industry classifications are determined based on the designations reported in EDGAR filings.
Key Insights
Technology has emerged as the leading contributor to federal income taxes, surpassing traditional giants like Finance and Energy. Its share has grown from 16% in 2010 to 24% in 2023.
Total income taxes paid experienced a significant increase after 2020, reaching a record high of $695 billion in 2023. This substantial rise contrasts with the relatively low income taxes paid during the previous decade, which amounted to approximately $400 billion.
Operating cash flow across industries nearly doubled, from $2.3 trillion in 2010 to $4.1 trillion in 2023, indicating a significant expansion in corporate financial strength.
Finance and Energy, once the dominant sectors, now account for a smaller percentage of tax contributions. This decline is partly attributed to regulatory changes and varying tax efficiencies.
Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet stand out for their exceptionally high operating cash flow. This underscores the remarkable transformation of technology companies into some of the most liquid and profitable enterprises in the United States.
Large banks and conglomerates, such as Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of America, frequently rank among the top cash flow generators. However, the nature of financial reporting can make their cash flow generation more volatile from year to year.
Historically, major energy players like Exxon Mobil and Chevron have produced some of the highest operating cash flows. However, recent data indicates that technology’s growth may surpass or even match these traditional sectors, suggesting a significant shift in the corporate landscape.
Closing Remarks
By focusing on operating cash flow—a relatively unrefined measure of corporate financial health—and actual taxes paid—a practical indicator of societal contribution—this EDGAR-based analysis provides a tangible glimpse into which industries and companies hold the most significant influence on the economy. Nevertheless, it’s important to acknowledge that the use of proration and potential errors in EDGAR filings can introduce estimation challenges, so it’s advisable to employ this as one of several lenses for a comprehensive corporate performance evaluation.
