States could recover $17 billion by closing corporate tax loopholes
Corporations should pay their fair share in taxes.
But every year, many large businesses are using complicated schemes to shift money earned in the U.S. to offshore tax havens to reduce how much they owe by billions of dollars.
The result? These large corporations aren’t paying their fair share, avoiding taxes their smaller competitors have to pay.
But states don’t have to wait on Washington to fix these problems. By closing loopholes at the state level, states can even the playing field and also recover billions of dollars for critical services.
Your state can act right now. Call on your governor to close tax loopholes and make sure everyone pays their fair share and plays by the same rules.
From schools to paved roads and courts to public health, every person and every corporation in America benefits from government services. When it comes to paying the tab, we need to ensure that the rules are applied evenly and fairly.
But even though all of America’s businesses use these government services, not all are playing by the same rules. Instead, these corporations are avoiding taxes by moving their profits offshore -- leaving the rest of us, including small businesses, to pick up the tab in the form of higher taxes, more debt or cuts to public spending.
The good news? States can even the playing field by implementing what’s called a “Combined Reporting” system -- requiring that companies report their total domestic profits, including all their subsidiaries so that the state can calculate how much of that profit is taxable. If every state changed the way it required corporations to report on their earnings, it would close state tax loopholes and could reclaim $17 billion across the country.
And, if states take action now, not only will they make important progress toward closing corporate tax loopholes, but they will set the stage for larger, national action.