Protected by the NO NEW TAX pledge many multinational corporations do not pay their fair share. Consequently, government does not have enough money for education and other vital services. The missing revenue could be creating jobs and infrasture, instead of pain. Congress has not acted because closing tax loopholes violates the Tea Party & GOP No New Tax pledge.
Some of the most profitable corporations stashed ONE TRILLION DOLLARS in off shore tax havens legally. Several sources combine to reveal which corporations, how much they stashed, how they do it and proposed legislation.
“Profits on an overseas holiday” in Bloomberg Businessweek 3/21/11 says that US multinational corporations are holding over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS off shore hoping and lobbying for a tax holiday opportunity to bring it home. During last US tax holiday in 2004 when the tax rate went down from 35% to 5.25% corporations promised to use the repatriated stash for job creation but instead used it for stock re-purchase and other means of giving the value to stock holders, but not for job creation.
An army of tax accountants, lawyers and lobbyist make sure US multinationals reap the maximum tax benefits allowed by law. Businessweek names the 22 companies with the largest overseas stashes totaling $654 Billion. Senator Bernie Sanders compiled a list of 10 companies that pay little or no taxes. Sander’s list and revelations in the Businessweek article pinpoint Freeloading Multinational Job Killers not paying their fair share..
ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is sitting off shore because US law allows multinationals to claim profits in tax haven countries legally. By shifting profits to avoid taxes ONE TRILLION DOLLARS has accumulated in those tax havens. An additional ONE TRILLION DOLLARS held on shore by corporations is the reason US job growth has been so slow. The taxes that should have been paid are not creating jobs which would create demand which creates jobs. Many of these corporations were responsible for creating the recession and are now hampering the recovery.
Other countries do not allow corporations to dodge taxes, taxing corporations based on either where the products or services are sold or where employee salaries are paid. The NO NEW TAX pledge prevents legislation that would change the laws to prevent the corporate tax evasion. The corporations and individual taxpayers who do pay a fair share should be irate, since we are also picking up the tab for freeloaders and borrowing from our grandchildren to do so.
The chart at www.contracostadems.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/FreeloadingMultinationalJobKillers.pdf (I could not figure out how to post the chart on Calitics) shows what portion of profits that some of the largest US multinationals are declaring for tax purposes off shore versus how much they sell (revenue) off shore. Some companies’ revenue off shore matches profits off shore, they pay a fair share while companies like B of A paid no US taxes and in fact took a US tax refund while 79% of revenue was from the US, they do not pay a fair share.
Taxing corporations where they employee citizens who are educated in public schools and travel on public roads would force freeloaders to pay a fair share for all the benefits they take currently take advantage of and are paid for by taxes from the rest of us. Will the American people continue to make due with less and fewer government services that protect and empower them or will they pull the plug on these freeloading job killers. That’s up to you. TAKE ACTION >>> Please distribute this article.