Ken Quinnell at the AFL-CIO Now blog reminds us today of the heavy toll corporate tax avoidance takes on public services:
A new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) reveals that state governments lost $39.8 billion in revenues because corporations and wealthy individuals are using offshore tax havens to avoid paying their statutory tax rates. We've seen the devastating effects that offshoring jobs have had on America's workers, and offshoring has long been talked about in terms of lost federal revenue, where $150 billion a year goes unpaid, but little focus has been given to state losses from the practice. Federal and state tax laws allow companies to claim that at least some portion of their profits were earned in other countries, particularly those whose tax rates are low or nonexistent.If you're in the Washington, D.C. area on Tuesday please come to Upper Senate Park (Constitution Ave. NW, between New Jersey Ave. NW and Delaware Ave. NE) at noon. You'll hear AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, AFGE President J. David Cox, and middle class workers who depend on the programs that may be on the chopping block.
