Stop The Paul-Boxer Tax Holiday; It May Already Be A Job-Killer

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dave-johnson/60740/stop-the-paul-boxer-tax-holiday-it-may-already-be-a-job-killer

Stop The Paul-Boxer Tax Holiday; It May Already Be A Job-Killer
Corporate America | Taxes
by Dave Johnson | January 31, 2015 - 9:52am

Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have teamed up and introduced a bill to let multinational corporations hiding profits in tax shelters off from paying most of the taxes they owe on those profits. In other words, they are offering companies a big, fat reward for coming up with tax schemes that cheat We the People out of a way to pay for the roads, schools, ports, military and the rest of the things (democracy) we provide these corporations to enable them to prosper.

And here’s a big question right now: Doesn’t this bill promising a “repatriation tax holiday” encourage even more companies to move jobs out of the country as fast as they can, so they can take advantage of the proposed tax holiday, too?

A loophole in our tax laws allows companies to “defer” paying taxes on profits made outside the U.S. until they repatriate – bring back to the U.S. – the money. Because of this, companies engage in all kinds of schemes and scams to get profits into offshore tax havens. American corporations are already holding as much as $2 trillion in already booked profits out of the country, to avoid the 35 percent tax they already owe on those profits. This means they owe up to $700 billion in taxes on profits they have already booked. They have used all kinds of schemes to make it look as if those profits were made outside of the country, including moving jobs, factories, profit centers and everything they can outside of the U.S.

If this bill passes, these companies can bring those profits back and pay only a 6.5 percent tax – up to $130 billion instead of $700 billion. This represents a $570 billion windfall for the giant corporations. This is $570 billion already owed on profits already booked, $570 billion that We the People are owed to pay for schools, roads and democracy. (And they complain about budget deficits! HA!)