REPORT: OFFSHORE SHELL GAMES 2014
The Use of Offshore Tax Havens by Fortune 500 Companies
RELEASED BY: U.S. PIRG ED FUND & CITIZENS FOR TAX JUSTICE
Executive Summary:
Many large U.S.-based multinational corporations 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. By booking profits to subsidiaries registered in tax havens, multinational corporations are able to avoid an estimated $90 billion in federal income taxes each year. These subsidiaries are often shell companies with few, if any employees, and which engage in little to no real business activity.
Congress has left loopholes in our tax code that allow this tax avoidance, which forces ordinary Americans to make up the difference. Every dollar in taxes that corporations avoid by using tax havens must be balanced by higher taxes on individuals, cuts to public investments and public services, or increased federal debt.
This study examines the use of tax havens by Fortune 500 companies in 2013. It reveals that tax haven use is ubiquitous among Americas largest companies, but a narrow set of companies benefit disproportionately.
http://seniorsforademocraticsociety.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/the-offshore-tax-haven-dodge/