Close Corporate Tax Loopholes

LOOPHOLES COST $470 Million LAST YEAR

No company should be able to game the tax system to avoid paying what it legitimately owes. And, yet, establishing shell companies in offshore havens for the purpose of tax avoidance is becoming more the rule than the exception for at least 83 of the nation's top 100 publicly traded companies. GE, Google, Goldman Sachs and dozens of others have created hundreds of phantom entities with nothing more than a clever tax attorney and P.O. box.

Official estimates of how much Americans lose in tax revenue are between $70 billion and $100 billion per year. That's money that is shouldered by average taxpayers, either through additional taxes today or additional debt to be paid by the next generation.

It’s not illegal, but it’s not right

The result? The average Rhode Island taxpayer paid $562 more this year to cover the $100 billion that G.E. and others that use offshore tax havens skipped out on. And small businesses and companies that don’t use these schemes have to struggle to compete with those that do.

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Legislature and Congress are considering deep cuts for essential public programs — from education, to health care, to clean air and drinking water. They’re asking us to tighten our belts and make sacrifices, while giving the tax haven crew a free ride.

We are pushing for commonsense changes that simply say if corporations are based here and generate profits here, then they should, like all of us who earn income in here, pay the taxes they owe.

Media Hit | Tax

Offshore Tax Schemes Cost State $450 Million

State taxpayers are picking up a tab to the tune of $450 million annually to cover the revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals hiding their profits overseas, according to a report released last week by the Rhode Island Public Interest Group (RIPIRG).

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Media Hit | Tax

Offshore tax havens cost R.I. residents

PROVIDENCE – Offshore tax havens cost every Rhode Island taxpayer an average of $532 a year and each small business $2,766 per year, according to a report released Thursday by the R.I. Public Interest Research Group.

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News Release | RIPIRG | Budget, Tax

Rhode Island Taxpayers Would Pay $532 to make up for Tax Haven Abuse, Small Businesses $2,766

With tax day approaching, a new study released by RIPIRG found that in 2011, the average Rhode Island taxpayer would have to shoulder an extra $532 tax burden to make up for revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals shifting income to offshore tax havens. The report additionally found that to cover the cost of the corporate abuse of tax havens in 2011, small businesses in Rhode Island would have to foot a bill of $2,766 on average.

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Report | RIPIRG | Budget, Tax

Picking Up the Tab

Some U.S.-based multinational firms or individuals avoid paying U.S. taxes by transferring their earnings to tax haven countries with minimal or no taxes. These tax haven users benefit from their access to America’s markets, workforce, infrastructure and security; but they pay little or nothing for it—violating the basic fairness of the tax system and forcing other taxpayers to pick up the tab.

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News Release | RIPIRG | Tax