The lowest payers

Yahoo!
Revenue (Latest Year): $7.2 billion
Average Tax Rate: 7.3%

The Web portal operator has paid modest cash taxes over the past four years, primarily because of employee stock options and the tax deductions they generate. The company has been profitable nearly every year and thus unable to use the entire benefit. The unused portion of the deduction then becomes a carryforward. A company spokesperson says Yahoo (YHOO) is getting close to exercising those credits, and the cash tax rate should rise to 15%-17% in 2009 and normalize within the next few years.