Offshore Tax Havens: A State-By-State Breakdown Of The Cost To Taxpayers

[Richardo]

Source: Huffington Post

A Senate report estimated in 2008 that the United States loses up to $100 billion a year in tax revenue to offshore tax havens (PDF). In a report released Wednesday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group offers a state-by-state breakdown of the cost to taxpayers of tax revenue lost to "shell companies and sham headquarters" in places like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

<snip>

U.S. PIRG's report, titled "Tax Shell Game," highlights some findings from a January report by the Government Accountability Office that found over 80 percent of the hundred biggest U.S. companies took advantage of tax havens. In 2008 the GAO found that one five-story building in the Cayman Islands, known as the "Ugland House," contained 18,857 registered businesses, very few of which had anything but a P.O. box there. Bailout beneficiaries Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Bank of America boast over 300 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands.

The tax day release of the report coincides with protests at post offices across the country coordinated by the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now, a coalition of groups supporting the president's budget priorities. Obama's budget calls for reigning in offshore tax havens.

<snip>

John Krieger says similar efforts by U.S. PIRG last year brought attention to tax evasion by major defense contractors like Kellogg, Brown & Root, ultimately leading to legislation to make sure contractors pay their share.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/offshore-tax-havens-a-sta_n_186640.html

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$100 billion.

Every. Year.

Here's my policy: any corporation, or corporate officers, sheltering revenues offshore would be prohibited from bidding for (or being awarded) ANY government contracts. Period.


On edit: State-by-state proration of the annual $100 billion shift of tax burdens to US taxpayers here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/archive/taxes.html

Oh, and BTW:

protests at post offices across the country coordinated by the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now, a coalition of groups supporting the president's budget priorities.

THIS is the tax day protest I want to join.

[Bushknew]

1. This is where the money is & who IRS agents should go after.

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Wow, Texas is number three and we do not have a state income tax.

I wonder what kind of taxes people in Texas avoid by having off shore accounts.

[radhika]

4. Are there corporate taxes?

Just wondering how the state raises income.

[hobbit709]

6. People here get stuck with an 8.25% sales tax

Higher fees instead of taxes-that way our dear legislators can claim they didn't raise taxes. My attitude is that if your driver's license, etc costs double then it's a tax under another name.
Property taxes have skyrocketed-in 1990 our house taxes were $400, last year $2300. Our income in those same years dropped 40%. Of course the big boys get to use all sorts of dodges that the average person can't.

[Richardo]

8. It's a prorate of the total $100 billion based on federal revenue generated

Really a squirrelly table that I found meaningless.

[Greyskye]

10. CA at $11.7 billion - that would go a long way in covering our $16 billion budget shortfall

[roguevalley]

3. I have a pension and a tiny job to make ends meet and I got soaked

on my taxes this year. I could burn something in effigy over this issue.

[pfitz59]

5. Time to invade the Cayman Islands!

Just another kind of piracy!

[destes]

7. perfectly well put, pfitz.

[nashville_brook]

9. almost a 5 billion dollar loss for FL -- our budget shortfall is btwn 6 and 7 Billion

we could use that damn money.

[Richardo]

11. I wonder how close the correllation is between each state's deficit and its tax shortfall

That would be telling, and simple enough for even a teabagger to grasp.

("Teabagger"! "Grasp"! I kill myself!)