Reprinted from Our Future
"Multinational corporations' use of tax havens allows them to avoid an estimated $100 billion in federal income taxes each year," says a new report just released by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (U.S. PIRG).
That report, "Offshore Shell Games 2016," explains how "U.S.-based multinational corporations are allowed to play by a different set of rules" when it comes to paying taxes.
Congress -- for obviou$ rea$on$ -- refuses to stop this "deferral" loophole. And then these same companies fund "think tanks" and other propaganda mills that tell us we have a huge budget "deficit" and "debt" problem and therefore need to cut spending on things that make people's lives better.
From the report's executive summary:
"Most of America's largest corporations maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014.
"-All told, these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries.
"-The 30 companies with the most money officially booked offshore for tax purposes collectively operate 1,225 tax haven subsidiaries."
Some of the key findings from the report:
-- Fortune 500 companies now hold nearly $2.5 trillion in earnings offshore and we estimate that they are avoiding $718 billion in taxes on these earnings.
-- More than 73 percent of Fortune 500 companies maintain at least one subsidiary in a tax haven.
-- Apple has booked $215 billion offshore on which it owes $65.4 billion in taxes.
The solution is for Congress to end the "deferral" loophole and make these companies just pay the taxes they owe.
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