Irish seeing red from missed green

When it was reported recently that Apple has avoided paying U.S. corporate income taxes on tens of billions of dollars by claiming the money really belonged to its Irish subsidiary, the hope was that Congress would use the revelation to seriously look at closing these tax loopholes used by multinational corporations. 

But, of course, our Congress is pathetically impotent to deal with the real problems of the country.  It’s too busy playing politics ALL THE TIME.  Plus, Apple is an influential company and it isn’t doing anything that other influential multinational corporations aren’t doing.

So instead of our Congress addressing this tax issue we might just have to rely on Ireland to fix the problem because Apple hardly paid any tax to that country on all those billions.  Why?  Because Irish tax law says that to be taxable income the corporate decisions have to be made in Ireland, which, of course, they aren’t in Apples’ case. 

The Ireland Independent exposed Apples’ tax avoidance in that county with a story yesterday under the heading, “Biggest Irish companies paid tax at eight times Apple's rate”. 

And if Apple ticking off the Irish business community isn’t bad enough, the President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Sean Cardinal Brady, signed a letter to the leaders of the G8 countries this week addressing tax evasion and taxation.  The letter cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 

“Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes…” (No. 2240).

Now if we can only get the leprechauns to rise up against Apple, we can shut down at least this one offshore tax haven.

 

Clocks ticking. Do you know where the multinational profits are?

The clock is ticking and your personal tax filings are due on Monday.  If you are like me you asked for an extension on your business tax filing that was due before this (S-corps and LLCs).

So as you rush to get the taxes done or are checking with your tax preparer to see how it is going, take a few minutes to see that your same anxiety is not shared by most multinational corporations that won’t be sending Uncle Sam any income taxes—or for that matter don’t have to pay any.

Watch the clips below and then raise your voice with your members of Congress.  We’re subsidizing these giants because Congress won’t make them pay their fair share of taxes.

What do America's Biggest Tax Cheating Corporations Want Now? http://youtu.be/_GizC6OnVpM

• Big Corporations are pushing for a Territorial Tax System. 
Find out what it is and how it's going to affect Americans!

How Do Billion-Dollar Corporations Cheat America Out of Tax Revenue? http://youtu.be/miO8cuIhYrs

• This tells how corporations use transfer pricing to shift profits offshore and get out of paying taxes in the U.S. 

The Truth About Corporate Tax Rates http://youtu.be/YsWq2kaD-gs

The tax rate is 35%. Corporations complain it's too high. But how much are they really paying?

Speaking of Big Corporate Tax Cheats...  http://youtu.be/tVPgpoN-RzY

• Carl Gibson, co-founder of US Uncut, speaks on the Mississippi State Capitol steps about how individuals pay more taxes than many multinational corporations. 

 

T-1 to Austerity

Now we count down by the hour to the automatic across the board federal spending cuts and the negative impact on the economy.  Small businesses will be particularly hurt when money starts leaving Main Street.

But don’t expect any sympathy from the U.S. Chamber for the plight of small business (even though it says that it represents small business also).  The U.S. Chamber has come out against any effort in the Senate for a balanced approach between raising revenue and cutting spending—something the public is firmly behind. 

Why?

Because they are protecting their big dues paying members--the multinational corporations who pay little in federal income tax. 

So damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead toward austerity and the harm to small businesses.  But at least we’ll protect all the big boys from paying their fair share of taxes.

We’re Not Broke

The end of the fiscal cliff saga has launched the next drama in Washington over spending and revenue.  You are going to hear a lot about how the federal government must live within its means and thus programs ranging from defense to healthcare must be cut. 

“We’re broke” many in congress have and will tell you over and over and over again.

“We do not have a tax problem, we have a spending problem” is another line regurgitated reflexively.

But the truth is we do have a tax problem and as a result a revenue problem.  Too many multinational corporations are not paying their fair share of U.S. taxes.  As a result, individuals and small businesses are subsidizing the government services—defense, infrastructure, courts, education, etc.—that these multinational corporations are using and all of us want.

How bad is the problem?

A film called “We’re Not Broke” tells the story.  I was fortunate to be asked to contribute to this project but that’s not why I encourage you to watch it.  Here is a trailer made specifically for small business owners.  http://youtu.be/h5HQKZDjWvg

You can watch the whole film at no cost on HULU.

I guarantee that after watching the film, you’ll understand that all the cuts in government spending you’ll be told are needed over the next several months to fix our deficit are not where we need to start.  We have a taxation problem that allows free loading multinational corporations to profit from our government services without paying their fair share. 

Watch the trailer and then the film. 

Take action.

Military base closures and corporate taxes . . . time to connect the dots

States and communities in many areas of the country are gearing up to protect their military bases from closures expected.  The reason given for the closures is the need to reduce the nation’s defense budget by $600 billion to address the country’s debt problem.

South Carolina has a Military Base Task Force that will try to convince the Pentagon to leave its state military bases alone and push the debt relief burden onto other states—cut them, not us.

But if the problem is not sufficient revenue, why is there never a mention by economic leaders of finding more money?  If our state and local economies will so devastated by base closures, why aren’t all the solutions on the table?

Tonight at 6:30 come see the independent film WE’RE NOT BROKE at the USC Law School auditorium (701 S. Main Street, Columbia).  Admission is free.  One solution to the hand-wringing by our business and political leaders over base closures will be on the silver screen—multinational corporations not paying their fair share of U.S. taxes. 

You’ll see a big reason for our debt problem, how these corporations avoid paying taxes and what to do about it.  Every member of the S.C. Military Base Task Force (and every taxpayer) should see this film to have their eyes opened and solution to their problem presented. 

WE’RE NOT BROKE.  Be there with me tonight at 6:30.  http://www.werenotbrokemovie.com/

Independent Film Documents Lost U.S. Taxes

First screening in South Carolina April 25

 “We’re Not Broke” is a timely independent film documenting big corporations hiding over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam.  The film was selected to be screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as well as the film festivals in Boston and Dallas.

**Public screening will be April 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the USC School of Law auditorium,
701 S. Main Street, Columbia.  Free admission.**

Columbia, SC—America is in the grip of a societal economic panic.  Lawmakers cry “We’re Broke!” as they slash budgets, lay off schoolteachers, police and firefighters, crumbling our country’s social fabric and leaving many Americans scrambling to survive.  Meanwhile, multibillion-dollar American corporations like Exxon, Google and Bank of America are making record profits.  And while the deficit climbs and the cuts go deeper, these corporations—with intimate ties to our political leaders—are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax.

WE’RE NOT BROKE is the story of how U.S. corporations have been able to hide over a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam, and how seven fed-up Americans from across the county. Take their frustration to the streets . . . and vow to make corporations pay their fair share.

“Our state economic leaders are very concerned about possible military base closings,” said Frank Knapp, Jr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.  “WE’RE NOT BROKE helps us connect the dots between big U.S. corporations avoiding paying taxes and the lack of federal dollars needed to keep our military bases open.” 

“This is also about our small businesses not being able to compete with big corporations because we pay our fair share of taxes and many of them do not,” said Mr. Knapp who appears in the film.

Attending the screening of WE’RE NOT BROKE will be Karin Hayes, producer, writer and director of the film.  Ms. Hayes and Mr. Knapp will answer questions following the screening. Dr. John Ruoff will also participate in post-screening discussion about corporate taxation.

--WWW.WERENOTBROKEMOVIE.COM--