Report: S&P 500 companies expected to pay more taxes in 2011

The research is being released not long after the Labor Department announced that the economy added a disappointing 54,000 jobs in May. It also comes as policymakers are discussing an overhaul of the corporate tax code, something business leaders say is necessary for them to compete in the global marketplace.

Michael Thompson, managing director for the S&P research group, told The Hill that the corporate tax findings, combined with the jobs numbers, further illustrate that companies are still skeptical about the state of the economy. 

{mosads}But Thompson also said that investors are likely to want to see more action from S&P 500 companies, who he said had hundreds of billions of dollars on their balance sheets.

“Investors are not really pleased about the lack of investment,” Thompson said. “Their feeling is that these companies are not paid to hold cash.”

The valuation and risk strategies team found that estimated 2011 taxes paid rose in just about every sector, including more than 40 percent in materials and roughly 38 percent in energy. The group found that utilities are expected to see a slight drop in taxes paid.