Protesters Tag Four Largest Banks as Tax Evaders

The nation's four largest banks are being labeled tax evaders by activists who have staged colorful protests at some of their branches in recent days.

The protesters created a video game and then projected it onto the walls of buildings that house offices of Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC), plus other corporations, including General Electric.

The video game, which is called "Tax Evaders," bears a strong resemblance to the classic arcade game "Space Invaders."

Video of the protests was posted online Monday, the deadline for filing tax returns. The protests took place in New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Baltimore and other U.S. cities.

The protesters' website states that the four banks each had small or negative tax bills in 2008, 2009, or 2010, but omits the fact that they paid considerably higher taxes in other years when they were more profitable. A spokesman for the activist group did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

A Wells Fargo spokesman said the company's effective tax rate in 2012 was more than 32%, and the company paid $9.1 billion in federal corporate income taxes last year.

A B of A spokesman said that the Charlotte bank paid approximately $2 billion in taxes in the United States in 2012. "What I would say is that we take our responsibilities as a corporate citizen very seriously, and that when we owe taxes, we pay them," the spokesman said.

Citi said that it paid hundreds of millions of dollars in state income taxes in 2012, plus billions of dollars in income taxes globally. "Citi strictly abides by all tax laws in the United States and throughout the world," the company said.

A JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment.