Lawmakers Must Investigate How Proposed Legislation Will Address Offshore Loopholes Highlighted in New ‘Paradise Papers’ Leak
Included in Leak: Gary Cohn, Wilbur Ross, & Rex Tillerson; Apple, Nike, Uber, & Glencore
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new leak of documents from an offshore law firm, published by an international network of news outlets Sunday, expose a number of tax avoidance techniques used by the wealthy and multinational corporations to avoid taxes. The new “Paradise Papers” stories were exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who won a Pulitzer Prize in April for their 2016 “Panama Papers” investigation. The stories raise questions about how the tax measures currently proposed by Congress will address offshore tax haven abuse, according to the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition.
Clark Gascoigne, the deputy director of the FACT Coalition, issued the following statement:
“The Paradise Papers investigation demonstrates the extent to which creative lawyers, accountants, and multinational corporations will go to game the system and dodge their taxes. Indeed, it’s currently estimated that offshore tax haven loopholes cost U.S. taxpayers over a hundred billion per year in lost revenue. These abuses only hurt U.S. domestic and small businesses as well as middle-class taxpayers who pay for them in some combination of higher taxes, larger deficits, and cuts to vital services.
“Given the list of major U.S. companies and prominent officials in this leak, the tax overhaul currently being discussed by Congress offers a prime vehicle to ensure that we close these loopholes and level the playing field for American taxpayers. Instead of hastily rushing a 500-page piece of legislation through Congress this week, lawmakers must be deliberate to ensure that any tax overhaul addresses the abuses revealed in this leak.”
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Journalist Contact:
Clark Gascoigne
Deputy Director, The FACT Coalition
+1 202 813-0290
cgascoigne@thefactcoalition.org
Notes to Editor:
- Read an online version of this press release.
- Read more about the ‘Paradise Papers’ stories from the ICIJ and The New York Times.
- Read the FACT Coalition’s Thursday statement on the offshore problems in the House tax bill.
- FACT Sheet: The House Tax Bill is a Gift to Companies that Offshore Profits and Jobs (PDF)
- FACT Sheet: Offshore Tax Haven Abuse (PDF)
- FACT Sheet: Offshore Tax Haven Abuse by the Numbers (PDF)