Thursday, July 17, 2014

When Inversion Becomes Evasion




Big Business is eagerly demanding and acquiring rights meant for people.  But when it comes to the duties shared by members of a thriving society, corporations are increasingly skipping town.

Some American corporations are essentially renouncing their citizenship so they can stop paying U.S. Corporate taxes, even as they benefit from innumerable advantages of doing business, and making record profits, here.

This corporate ploy is called “inversion.”

A better word might be “evasion.”

Inversion is when an American corporation seeks out and merges with a (usually smaller) foreign business, then uses the country where that business is located for tax purposes, thereby avoiding U.S. corporate taxes.

For example, Walgreens — the American drugstore chain — has begun the process of merging with a Swiss company and may reincorporate in Switzerland, a well-known tax haven.  If Walgreens goes through with this tactic, it could cost our economy nearly a billion dollars a year in lost tax revenue.

We have to stop this trend before it spins completely out of control.

Walgreens — like most American corporations — relies on public resources like roads to move its products around the country, police to protect its stores from crime, and schools to develop its workforce.  And about 25% of Walgreens’ business comes from taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Dozens of large corporations — including pharmaceutical Pfizer and agribusiness behemoth Chiquita — have already completed or considered this unpatriotic maneuver.

Big Business wants all the advantages of operating in America.  But it expects the rest of us to pick up the tab, even as it sees record profits.

Join Public Citizen and USAction in saying “No!” to Corporate America’s sneaky, unpatriotic scheme to skip out on its financial obligations here at home.

If you agree, add your name right now to the petition to stop the inversion evasion.

CLICK HERE to sign the petition to stop Big Business from setting up sham headquarters in tax havens to dodge their tax obligations here in America.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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