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.
The FACT Coalition joined 57 additional organizations to send a letter to Congress supporting the No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act – S. 780 and H.R. 1711, which would eliminate the deep discount that multinational companies get for shifting profits offshore and outsourcing jobs. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
“No Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Act” Endorsed by 57 National Organizations, Sponsored by 80 Members of Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Eighty lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that would equalize the tax rates for domestic businesses and multinational corporations — reducing the tax incentive to shift profits and operations overseas that were enacted under the recent tax overhaul, according to the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.
Amazon, the ubiquitous purveyor of two-day delivery of just about everything, nearly doubled its profits to $11.2 billion in 2018 from $5.6 billion the previous year and, once again, didn’t pay a single cent of federal income taxes.
The popular video streaming service Netflix posted its largest-ever U.S. profit in 2018—$845 million—on which it didn’t pay a dime in federal or state income taxes. In fact, the company reported a $22 million federal tax rebate.
After a year of speculation and spin, the public is getting its first hard look at how corporate tax law changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affected the tax-paying habits of corporations. The law sharply reduced the federal corporate rate, expanded some tax breaks and curtailed others. The new tax law took effect at the beginning of 2018, which means that companies are just now closing the books on their first full year under the new rules.
The FACT Coalition filed a comment on February 5, 2019 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Guidance Related to the Foreign Tax Credit [REG–105600–18]. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.
We need a tax code that creates an even playing field between large multinational corporations and small and domestic businesses, which means ending the ability of the former to engage in offshore shell games.
