Monday, July 19, 2010

Small businesses join forces in opposition to tax evasion

A new grass-roots campaign against tax avoidance will be announced Tuesday; it will boast the support of hundreds of representatives and investors in small businesses and will be formed of a coalition of non-profit groups that believe tax avoidance is bad for U.S. business.

“The campaign is unusual because it is the first time that small businesses have organized to combat offshore tax avoidance and evasion in a significant way,” reports Lynnley Browning of The New York Times. The campaign is backed by Democratic senator Carl Levin, who has investigated offshore tax havens and their wealthy patrons.

The report to be released argues that American multinational corporations avoid at least $37 billion in federal taxes annually, and calls for new laws to prevent offshore finagling of taxable earnings as well as the repeal of certain rules that currently facilitate such tax evasion.