Tax Transparency

Multinational companies do not publicly report on where they are making their money or what taxes they are paying to whom.  Investors, policymakers, and citizens have no idea exactly how they are gaming the system—what they tell us versus what they tell other countries.  They should have to write it down in one place and report it on a country-by-country basis, so that the public, policymakers, and shareholders can see what they are really paying.

Coalition Welcomes New Tax Transparency Bill

Corporate Transparency and Accountability Act Would Better Inform Investors on Tax Risks Associated with Multinational Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) today introduced a new bill, which would shine a light on the offshore tax practices of multinational companies.  The Corporate Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 would require publicly-traded multinational companies to report in their disclosure statements to investors information about revenues, profits, taxes, and certain operations on a country-by-country basis.

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Broad Coalition Calls for Greater Disclosure Requirements from the SEC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nine groups—the AFL-CIO; Americans for Financial Reform; the Center for American Progress; Ceres; the Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency, or FACT, Coalition; the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable; Patriotic Millionaires; Public Citizen; and US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment—are joining together to urge the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, to strengthen corporate disclosure requirements.

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Towards a Sustainable Economy

A Review of Comments to the SEC’s Disclosure Effectiveness Concept Release
The FACT Coalition joined eight other groups—the AFL-CIO; Americans for Financial Reform; the Center for American Progress; Ceres; the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable; Patriotic Millionaires; Public Citizen; and US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment—in releasing a report analyzing the more than 26,000 comments received in response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s April 2016 concept release on “Business and Financial Disclosure Required by Regulation S-K”.

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Toward A Sustainable Economy: Transparency, Long-Termism, and the SEC

September 20, 2016 | 9:30am ET – 11:00am ET
Please join the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the AFL-CIO, Americans for Financial Reform, Ceres, the Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency Coalition, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, the Patriotic Millionaires, Public Citizen, and US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment for a discussion on transparency, long-termism, and the state of SEC corporate disclosures.

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New Report: Investors at Risk by Lack of Corporate Tax Disclosures

Shareholders Increasingly Stymied by Opaque Corporate Tax Practices as Authorities Crack Down, Finds New FACT Analysis
Apple Tax Ruling “Just the Tip of the Iceberg”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Investors are at an increasing risk due to the lack of information disclosed by companies about their tax practices, according to a new report published today by the FACT Coalition.

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A Taxing Problem for Investors

Shareholders Increasingly at Risk from Lack of Disclosure of Corporate Tax Practices
Investors are at an increasing risk due to the lack of information disclosed by companies about their tax practices, according to this September 2016 report published by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition (FACT Coalition).  Titled “A Taxing Problem for Investors: Shareholders Increasingly at Risk from Lack of Disclosure of Corporate Tax Practices,” the report finds that multinational companies have become increasingly reliant on offshore tax avoidance practices to boost short-term earnings in recent years, yet disclosure requirements haven’t kept pace with this changing world.  As governments around the globe struggle with growing budget deficits, tax authorities are increasingly cracking down on aggressive tax avoidance practices, which can have a significant impact on shareholder value.

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