Critics are seizing on the current U.S. deficit debate to urge a new crackdown on offshore tax havens, which have long benefited American and foreign corporations.
On Tuesday, they’re kicking off their campaign in Washington with an event featuring Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), a longtime proponent of change who will outline his latest proposal. The event also includes journalist Nicholas Shaxson, author of a new book, “Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens.”
The coalition, called Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT), includes union representatives, political and consumer activists and Catholic nuns, among others. In a letter to congressional leaders, they say they’re seeking changes including:
Mr. Shaxson says in the introduction to his book: “The offshore system is the secret underpinning for the political and financial power of Wall Street today. It is the fortified refuge of Big Finance. The offshore system is also about a more generalized subversion of democracy by our increasingly unaccountable elites….
The United States, by offering tax incentives and secrecy to lure money from overseas, [has] been turning ITSELF into a tax haven….”
source: Deficit Spurs New Look at Offshore Tax Havens - Washington Wire - WSJ
On Tuesday, they’re kicking off their campaign in Washington with an event featuring Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), a longtime proponent of change who will outline his latest proposal. The event also includes journalist Nicholas Shaxson, author of a new book, “Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens.”
The coalition, called Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT), includes union representatives, political and consumer activists and Catholic nuns, among others. In a letter to congressional leaders, they say they’re seeking changes including:
- Requiring ownership of all business entities to be made public.
- Requiring multinationals to report sales, profits and taxes paid, country-by-country.
- Eliminating loopholes to make sure corporations pay “their fair share of taxes.”
Mr. Shaxson says in the introduction to his book: “The offshore system is the secret underpinning for the political and financial power of Wall Street today. It is the fortified refuge of Big Finance. The offshore system is also about a more generalized subversion of democracy by our increasingly unaccountable elites….
The United States, by offering tax incentives and secrecy to lure money from overseas, [has] been turning ITSELF into a tax haven….”
source: Deficit Spurs New Look at Offshore Tax Havens - Washington Wire - WSJ
