Gimme a “Double Irish” and a “Dutch Sandwich” please, says Google and other tech companies. These tax ploys allow them to pay tiny amounts of tax as they shuttle profits around the world, sometimes through companies that have no employees. All this is quite legal, utterly unfair, and shows how our taxes need tightening. This is especially true now when the tens of billions in lost revenue could help balance the budget deficit.
The interactive Bloomberg graphic explains how it’s done. However, their article has one misrepresentation. They say the IRS made a “secret pact” with Google when in fact all taxpayer information is strictly confidential and disclosing it is a firing offense. The IRS is not the problem here, they enforce the tax laws that Congress passes. The problem is with lobbyists and a Congress beholden to big money.
Why do hugely profitable corporations get to pay minuscule amounts of tax while private taxpayers pay far higher percentages of their incomes?