April 26, 2016 11:04 AM | Permalink | 
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Contact: Jenice R. Robinson, 202.299.1066 X29, Jenice@ctj.org
Following is a statement by Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, regarding the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing today on business tax reform.
“For many years, the tax committees in Congress have refused to address the egregious and expensive loopholes that allow so many big profitable corporations to avoid their tax responsibilities. Instead, they have insisted that nothing can be done except in the context of a complete overhaul of the corporate income tax code.
“Rather than having yet another hearing on big-picture business tax reform, Congress should instead act immediately to close these unwarranted loopholes.
“By failing to close corporate loopholes, Congress is complicit in Fortune 500 companies avoiding up to $695 billion in taxes on $2.4 trillion in profits these companies hold offshore. If members had the will, Congress could shut down offshore corporate tax avoidance tomorrow by ending the ability of companies to indefinitely defer paying taxes on U.S. profits that they have shifted into offshore tax havens.
“Similarly, it is outrageous that Congress has repeatedly failed pass legislation to close the inversion loophole, a failure that has allowed a growing number of major U.S. corporations to pretend to be foreign to avoid U.S. taxes.
“Unfortunately, many in Congress who claim to support ‘business tax reform’ are seeking to expand tax loopholes for corporations and cut their taxes even further than existing loopholes already allow. These tax-deform efforts should be rejected. Real business tax reform should raise substantially more revenue, in large part by putting an end to rampant offshore tax avoidance.”
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