This is what happens when tax breaks are used as political favors:
Tax consultants estimate that eligible businesses obtain as little as 5% of the main domestic tax breaks that they are entitled to claim. That means firms are leaving tens of billions of dollars on the table every year. Out of 1.78 million corporate tax returns in the U.S., only about 20,000 claimed any of the three dozen main business tax credits in the code, according to IRS estimates.
Firms Pass Up Tax Breaks, Citing Hassles, Complexity [WSJ]
