FACT Members, Partners to Speak at Friday IRS Hearing on Proposed Country-by-Country Reporting Rule
Multinational Profit Shifting Costs Taxpayers $111 Billion per Year
WASHINGTON, DC — The Internal Revenue Service is holding a public hearing Friday morning on proposed rules to crack down on corporate tax dodging by requiring multinational companies to report to the IRS their profits earned, taxes paid, and employee numbers on a country-by-country basis. Members and allies of the FACT Coalition are set to testify on the proposal, known as “country-by-country reporting”.
Statement of Clark Gascoigne, deputy director of the FACT Coalition:
“Corporate tax dodging takes an enormous toll on our country—recent studies estimate that abusive profit shifting costs taxpayers $111 billion in lost revenue each year. When multinationals avoid paying taxes by manipulating their tax bills, small businesses and average American taxpayers have to pick up the bill in the form of cuts to public programs, higher taxes, or more debt.
“But, the real problem is that this profit shifting and tax dodging happens in the shadows, where neither tax authorities nor the public can see it. Many of the techniques abused by these companies to dodge taxes are legal—they shouldn’t be. Other techniques certainly are illegal, but we can’t know because there’s no information.
“We welcome the proposed rule, which would require companies to disclose information on their abusive profit shifting to government authorities as an important first step, but it is far from sufficient. The public needs access to this very basic information—the stakes are simply too high.
“We will not be able to tackle tax avoidance and evasion until companies are required to publicly disclose their abusive tax dodging techniques.”
The hearing will take place at 10am EDT on Friday, May 13, 2016 at IRS Headquarters in Washington. The FACT Coalition previously submitted written comments to the IRS on the proposed rule in March.
FACT Coalition members speaking at the hearing include:
- Tatu Ilunga, Oxfam America (Download Prepared Testimony)
- Heather Lowe, Global Financial Integrity (Download Prepared Testimony)
- Porter McConnell, Financial Transparency Coalition (Download Prepared Testimony)
Other FACT allies speaking at the hearing include:
- Frank Clemente, Americans for Tax Fairness (Download Prepared Testimony)
- Joseph Kraus, ONE Campaign (Download Prepared Testimony)
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The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition that unites over 100 leading small business, faith-based, human rights, anti-corruption, public-interest, labor, and global development organizations from across the ideological spectrum in favor of ending the abuse of anonymous companies and tax havens.
Notes to Editors:
- Read an HTML version of this release.
- Download the agenda for the Hearing.
- Read the proposed rule.
- Read FACT’s written comments on the proposed rule, submitted in March 2016.
Journalist Contacts:
Clark Gascoigne
cgascoigne@thefactcoalition.org
+1 202.813.0290