Bailed-Out Firms Have Tax Havens, GAO Finds

Washinton Post News Source;

Most of America's largest publicly traded corporations -- including several that are receiving billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers to finance their recovery -- have set up offshore operations that could help them avoid paying U.S. taxes on their profits, a government study released yesterday found.

This is sickening. While holding out their hat begging for money, they are hoarding money in offshore accounts. The article says this is legal. How in the world can such blantant tax evassion and thievery be legal. Not only were they taking advantage of the system by not paying taxes which would now be helping them out, they flat out took money from people that they should have been aiding by paying taxes to our country. This means that they have contributed to the national debt twice over with their failure to pay taxes and then their blatant stealing of taxes under the guise of preventing economic failure. Look at the link below for an excellent graphical map courtesy of the AP that shows everything about amounts and the hundreds upon hundreds of thiefs that took our money.

Bailout Tracker - The Associated Press - Interactive Chart

I was just awestruck when scrolling through this chart, looking at the sheer numbers of bailedout financial institutions. These same institutions have created the true "trifecta" of financial pillaging of the American people by failing to pay taxes, stealing tax money, and profiteering off of the failure of people. These abuses have got to be stopped. Laws to stop this should have been enacted immediatly after the market showed signs of failure in 2007.

Why do we let this happen to us?

I think an American company has to pay taxes on all income no
matter where that income came from.

Wal Mart spends on over seas manufacturing but makes profits here.
Microsoft sells to France and reports the profits here.

So a so called Tax Haven seems impossible.

reply to post by TeslaandLyne


Companies using tax havens is not up for debate. They do this in order to avoid paying out more. It has to do with making profit while a country suffers. The government themselves know the tax havens exist.

Originally posted by LeaderOfProgress
reply to post by TeslaandLyne

 

Companies using tax havens is not up for debate. They do this in order to avoid paying out more. It has to do with making profit while a country suffers. The government themselves know the tax havens exist.

So millionaires donate to their favorite charities, which may be their
own hospitals or other organization that may ultimately benefit themselves,
to get a tax break and thus provide less tax money for us.

A tax write off by the elite cheat the rest of us.
A Tax Haven for anyone sounds the same, money for them and
not for the rest of the taxpayers.

Thus personal taxes can't be use for private firms while charity donated
funds missing to the tax collection are thus diverted to private use.

Lots of double talk.

I believe Obama has promised to close this loophole. Although I am not currently aware of any legislation dealing with such matter.

Seagate is just one of the companies that may be affected by President Barack Obama’s proposal on Monday to raise about $190 billion over the next decade by outlawing techniques used by US companies in offshore locations to avoid paying taxes. While the US corporate tax rate is 35%, Seagate paid an effective tax rate of 5% in the year ended June 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

www.financialexpress.com...

old article but still applies

At the top of the list: the increasing sophistication of large multinational corporations in managing their tax obligations, particularly by shifting profits to countries with lower tax rates. Companies employ mechanisms for moving these profits, particularly within the murky zone of "transfer prices," the rates at which the various subsidiaries of a company exchange goods and services around the world. By keeping these transfer prices high in low-tax countries and low in high-tax countries, companies can generate more of their profit in places with lower taxes.

www.washingtonpost.com...