It's Hammer Time for Corporate Tax Dodgers!

Corporate tax shelters cost the U.S. Treasury an estimated $18 billion a year. Corporate taxes now account for only 7.4 percent of federal tax receipts, the second-lowest level on record. This page is a guide to how corporations get away without paying their fair share of taxes and what to do about it.

Citizen Works Reports and Fact Sheets:

• "Sacrifice is for Suckers" A Citizen Works briefing paper that explains how corporations are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes (April 15, 2003).


• 25 Fortune 500 Corporations With the Most Offshore Tax-Haven Subsidiaries Lists the the 25 corporations with the most offshore tax havens, with information about total number of subsidiaries and comparison stats from 1997 (April 15, 2003).


• List of corporate tax dodgers A growing database of corporations who have moved their headquarters offshore to save on taxes. Includes information about their estimated tax savings, U.S. government contracts and product descriptions.


• Corporate tax dodger fact sheet Explains the problem of offshore reincorporation and how to stop corporate tax traitors (April 15, 2003).
• Quotes about tax dodgers Comments from Congressmen, the courts and corporate America about taxes, tax havens and corporate greed.

Other Featured Reports:

• The Decline of Corporate Income Tax Revenues Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (October 16, 2003)
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• Challenges Remain in Abusive Tax Shelters General Accounting Office (October 16, 2003).


• More Corporate Tax Shelters on the Way? Citizens for Tax Justice (October 16, 2003).

Featured Reform Legislation

• Tax Shelter and Auditor Independence Act Introduced by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich), it makes it illegal for an accounting firm that audits a public company's books to also sell that company tax shelter services.


• Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act Introduced by Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) in the House and Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in the Senate, this bill denies tax benefits to former American companies that reincorporate offshore to avoid paying taxes.


• The Corporate Accountability Tax Gap Act Introduced by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), this bill requires publicly-traded companies to disclose their tax receipts.


• Abusive Tax Shelter Shutdown and Taxpayer Accountability Act Introduced by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), this bill strengthens the penalties and enforcement mechanisms for the IRS to crack down on tax shelter abuse.

Congressional Hearings

• Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations "U. S. Tax Shelter Industry: The Role of Accountants, Lawyers and Financial Professionals" (Day One: November 18, 2003; Day Two: November 20, 2003)
• Senate Finance Committee "Tax Shelters: Who's Buying, Who's Selling, and What's the Government Doing About It?"
(October 21, 2003).

• Senate Finance Committee "Corporate Tax Shelters: Looking Under the Roof"
(March 21, 2002).

• House Ways and Means Committee Hearings on corporate inversions. (June 6, 2002).

Links

• The Bermuda Project


• Taxpayers for Common Sense


• Corporate Traitors


• Tax Analysts' Corporate Inversions website


• Offshore tax havens website: Professor Michael McIntyre (Wayne State University Law School).
• Citizens for Tax Justice: Leading public interest experts on corporate tax issues.


• International Tax Justice Network: New network of international activists and experts.