There is widespread agreement, across the political spectrum, that the gaming of the tax code by multinational corporations is a problem. When profits and jobs are shipped offshore, we not only harm the U.S. economy, we fuel a tax haven industry that drains wealth around the world. We seek to fix the problem of large, well-connected interests gaming the tax system.
This article was originally posted by Oxfam America. The controversial departure of its chief economist highlights the need for a coherent policy on tax and development. Last month, word got out that the World Bank’s Chief Economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg was planning to leave her position after just over a year on the job. It’s the second transition …
Earlier this year, Amazon and Netflix made headlines when ITEP reported findings that these and at least 58 other companies paid no federal income taxes in 2018. One of the tax breaks they use to manage this feat is related to stock options, the subject of a new ITEP report.
The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition) sent a letter of support to the sponsors of the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2019. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
In recent days, presidential candidates Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio have called for taxing corporate profits the same whether they are earned in the United States or abroad. These calls echo the position of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has long had a proposal along these lines. As ITEP has explained, correcting this inequity is not a mere detail but rather a sweeping reform that could end incentives for companies to shift profits and jobs offshore.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate lawmakers introduced two pieces of legislation on Wednesday that would boost transparency of multinational corporations’ tax and employment practices while making it harder for companies to game the international tax system.
On Tax Day 2019, the first year of data on corporate taxes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are coming in. Those who championed the corporate reforms promised, among other benefits, that the changes would end the offshore shell games by multinationals, profits stashed in tax havens would return to the U.S., and the new competitive rate would attract a flood of foreign direct investment.
Opponents of the new law, like the FACT Coalition and our members, argued that the incentives would have the opposite effect: the offshoring of profits would continue and the incentives might well create new (unhelpful) distortions influencing corporate behavior.
It is now time to look at what actually happened. To get a better sense of the impact, consider the following recent excerpts from various news reports and analysis by tax experts.
