<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<style>
    p { width:200px; height:120px; background-color: lightgreen;}
    .control { padding: -100px; }
</style>

<div style="background-color: yellow;">
    <p class="control">This element should have zero padding.</p>
    <p class="control">This element should have zero padding.</p>
    <p class="control">This element should have zero padding.</p>
</div>