Pay Up Now, Corporations
By Paul Buchheit
15 March, 2011
Countercurrents.org
PayUpNow.org is an online effort to 'uncut' the cutbacks by promoting boycotts of corporations who pay little or no federal income tax.
According to a U.S. Senate subcommittee report, eliminating tax havens
could save $100 billion a year. That's a conservative estimate. The IRS
calculated that companies and individuals are holding up to $5 trillion in
foreign tax havens.
Some of the worst offenders include General Electric, which had $10
billion in profits and received a tax rebate; Bank of America, whose
financial statements, according to a Bloomberg report, were "so delusional
that they invite laughter"; oil giant Exxon, which paid no U.S. taxes; and
Citigroup, with an astounding 427 foreign tax havens.
The list goes on and on. In scanning the Government Accountability
Office's list of tax abusers one is struck by the absence of companies
WITHOUT tax havens, euphemistically referred to as "financial privacy
jurisdictions." Indeed, only 17 of the 100 largest U.S. companies were
listed as tax-haven-free.
The $100 billion per year lost to the taxpayers would cover most of the
$140 billion budget deficit faced by the 50 states.
Several of the tax evaders are featured at PayUpNow.org, with brief
summaries of their recent tax escapades, products to avoid, and links to
online forms or email addresses to corporate management. The website was
developed by US Uncut members. A Facebook "Pay Up Now" page has also been
created.
As noted on the PayUpNow.org website, every effort has been made to
provide truthful, documented information. But errors and omissions are
likely in such a sensitive area. Corporations are adept at tax strategy. A
New York Times story said "G.E. is so good at avoiding taxes that some
people consider its tax department to be the best in the world, even
better than any law firm's."
Feedback is requested to correct inaccuracies, to add or remove companies
depending on their tax-paying behaviors, to clarify company products, and
to provide the most suitable modes of communicating to management (online
forms or email addresses). The website includes message-sending help.
Polite but assertive objection to tax avoidance is essential. Contact
information for PayUpNow is offered as a substitute for a message-sender's
personal information.
It is occasionally suggested that consumers end up paying corporate taxes
anyway, through higher prices. This argument fails when the extraordinary
increase in upper management pay is taken into consideration. Literally
billions of dollars have gone to the richest 1% while their personal and
corporate taxes have decreased. PayUpNow.org is, at the very least, a
means of better informing the public of the truth behind the budget
deficit.
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