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.
A central theme of corporate tax reform is how to create a system that works in a global economy. Several proposals have called for a territorial corporate tax system — a system in which a company only pays taxes on what it claims as profits in a given country rather than looking at the companies’ global footprint.
Below are questions and answers about territorial tax systems as outlined in recent reform proposals.
New Analysis Underscores Need to End Deferral, Boost Transparency of Companies’ Offshore Tax Practices
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The largest American companies have stashed nearly $2.5 trillion in profits offshore allowing them to dodge $718 billion in U.S. taxes, according to a new report released Tuesday by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund—all members of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition).
Up to $180 billion: The amount that the U.S. loses in tax revenue to offshore tax haven abuse each year.
$111 billion: Lost U.S. revenue from profit shifting by multinational corporations annually.
$40-70 billion: Lost U.S. revenue to tax evasion by wealthy individuals annually.
Average Taxpayers and Small Business Owners Foot the Bill for Offshore Tax Loopholes
Many Large U.S.-Based Multinationals Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes by Using Accounting Tricks to Make Profits Made in America Appear to Be Generated in Offshore Tax Havens—Countries with Minimal or No Taxes.
Statement of the FACT Coalition on the E.U.’s Apple Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The European Commission today announced that Apple would have to re-pay Ireland roughly $14.5 billion in illegal tax breaks, after a three-year investigation discovered that the tech giant escaped with paying about 0.05% in taxes—compared to the official Irish rate of 12%.
Clark Gascoigne, the deputy director of the FACT Coalition, issued the following statement.
Administration and Congress Should Focus on Collecting the Remaining $51.5 Billion that Apple Owes American Taxpayers
U.S. corporations woke up today to find that the European Commission ruled that Apple must re-pay Ireland roughly $14.5 billion it provided in illegal tax breaks.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
The European Union’s antitrust regulator has demanded that Ireland recoup roughly €13 billion ($14.5 billion) in taxes from Apple Inc., after ruling that a deal with Dublin allowed the company to avoid almost all corporate tax across the entire bloc for more than a decade—a move that could intensify a feud between the EU and the U.S. over the bloc’s tax probes into American companies.
With all of the finger pointing and spin, it’s important to take stock of the facts.
Let’s be clear—Apple’s pretense that it is a good corporate citizen that pays its taxes is now over.
