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When the Panama Papers were released just a little over a year ago it sent shockwaves throughout the world.  The massive scale of the leak and the VIP’s that it implicated outraged a public that had already seen the wealthy and corporations as not paying their fair share.  Though, with all that the leak revealed, an important question was on everyone’s minds, where are the Americans?  This past week, it seems, we found them.

The Paradise Papers—a leak of 13 million documents from Appleby, a large offshore law firm—contains details on tax avoidance techniques of at least 31,000 U.S. citizens, residents and companies. This includes household names like Apple, Nike, and Uber.  While governments have moved to crack down on tax avoidance schemes, documents in the leak show how Apple and Nike were able to outrun regulators by exploiting gaps between differing tax codes.

Just a few days before the leak, House leaders released a tax plan that rewards companies for creating complicated tax avoidance structures like those found in the leak.  It is, in effect, a gift to the multinational companies that have dodged taxes for years by offshoring profits and jobs with an estimated $458 billion tax giveaway on the profits that are currently offshore.  In 2004, a similar measure was used in an effort to create jobs yet the multinationals who benefited most from the repatriation holiday slashed 20,000 U.S. jobs over the next two years.

More corrupt officials face consequences as reverberations from the Panama Papers continue. Pakistan’s Supreme Court has indefinitely disqualified the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, from public service after the prime minister and his children were implicated in dubious real estate transactions in London. A subsequent investigation showed his family owned luxury real estate properties through anonymous companies. Based on their income, it was unlikely they could afford the properties, suggesting they were potentially hiding stolen assets and engaging in illicit financial practices. In a blog responding to the action taken by the supreme court, Global Witness’ Naomi Hirst noted this as an example of how anonymous companies are used to embolden corrupt officials and called on leaders to fulfill their promises to eliminate them.

Profits booked offshore are growing at an even faster pace than previously predicted. Earlier this month, Apple made waves when it disclosed that of its more than $250 billion in cash worldwide, $239 billion is kept offshore.  Some of the growth in cash booked offshore is likely due to the perception that Congress and the administration are inching ever closer to a deal that would allow these companies to return the money at a steep discount.

One plan presented by Democratic Representative John Delaney equates to a corporate hand-out of nearly $550 billion.  In a recent blog, the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy analyzes the plan disguised as a pay-for for infrastructure spending.  There is no doubt with a backlog of $836 billion in much-needed repairs, investments in infrastructure need more funding. However, as ITEP argues, this plan will only make the problem of inadequate revenue worse.

Last April, the world’s attention was captured by a global investigation revealing more than 11 million documents from a Panamanian law firm documenting a secret financial network reserved for the wealthy and corrupt.  Now, one year later, the “Panama Papers” was just awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, while experts are reflecting on how far we’ve come and how much farther we really need to go.  There is no doubt that the “Panama Papers” release reverberated throughout the world, but—with the extent of the problem the information exposed—it’s clear not enough has been done.

In a statement marking the the anniversary, FACT’s Gary Kalman graded the global response to the Panama Papers a “C-”, calling the progress “more scattershot than comprehensive.”  Though some real progress has been made, more must be done, especially when it comes to ending the abuse of anonymous companies.  In a blog that followed, he further reflected on this past year and made a prediction for the future—saying he is optimistic that, by the next anniversary, our grade will improve.