The Biggest Tax Scam On Earth

[Jcrowley]

How Multinational Corporations Avoid Paying Their Taxes

Drug companies and other multinational companies based in the U.S. systematically avoid paying tax in the U.S. on their profits. The companies elect to realize profits in low-tax countries and because of this the rest of us have to pay billions of unnecessary taxes to make up for the shortfall, writes Peter Rost, an ex-pharmaceutical executive.

By Peter Rost

11/22/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- The biggest tax scam on earth has a very innocent sounding name. It is called “transfer prices.” That almost sounds boring. It is, however, anything but boring. Abuse of transfer prices is a key tool multinational corporations use to fool the U.S. and other jurisdictions to think that they have virtually no profit; hence, they shouldn’t pay any taxes.

Corporations involved in this scam are “model corporate citizens,” or so they would like us to believe. The truth is that they rob us all blind. The money we lose can be estimated in the tens of billions, or possibly hundreds of billions of dollars every year. We all end up paying higher taxes because rich corporations make sure they don’t.

But don’t take my word for this.

A few weeks ago U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, together with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that GSK will pay $3.4 billion to the IRS to settle a transfer pricing dispute dating back 17 years. The IRS alleges that GSK improperly shifted profits from their U.S. to the U.K. entity.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15704.htm

[mzteris]

1. nah - 2nd biggest

Churches have the 1st biggest.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. WHOOPS! The top 1% have the most tax breaks compared to anybody.

[Monkeyman]

2. Don;t forget VFW's American Legion

[OllieLotte]

3. Social Security gets my vote. n/t

[drm604]

13. There's one in every crowd.

:crazy:

[Jim Sagle]

18. Not for long, I hope.

[Cleita]

5. Until we get rid of the corruption in our government, we won't

be able to change the laws that allow this corporate welfare to go on because our politicians will be bought by these entities until we get real election reform.

[Jcrowley]

6. Indeed

End of article:
"In the end, multinational corporations live in a global world which allows them to pretty much send their money to corporate tax havens at will, and then repatriate this money almost tax free, with the help of the U.S. Congress."

[bobbolink]

10. Just shocking, I tell ya.

'then repatriate this money almost tax free, with the help of the U.S. Congress."

I didn't know that... :sarcasm:

Sometimes I wonder when the people of this country will actually rebel!

[Vorta]

7. What would you bet, that if I posted this on a conservative BBS, they would defend it?

[FormerDittoHead]

8. Don't forget trademark and copyright transfers...

David Clay Johnson writes of how trademarks (and copyrights, etc) are registered in offshore subsidiaries.

Royalties are then paid to those offshore companies and viola! the domestic selling company is just breaking even on the sale - NO TAX!

[TahitiNut]

9. Yep. Corporations have paid less under Bush/Cheney than any time in many decades

[bobbolink]

11. Well, that just puts it in black and white.. err.... black and red.

Thanks.. that really makes it clear in one glance.

Like I needed more anger right before turkey... :hi:

[file83]

12. Not only are Corporations NOT paying taxes, but the INCOME tax for individuals is unconstitutional!

It sounds like the citizens are being illegally forced to make up the difference of what Corporations are NOT paying.

I watched America: Freedom to Fascism" by Aaron Russo and learned that not only did the Surpreme Court rule that the income tax wasn't allowed, but that there is in FACT no law that requires us to pay an income tax.

"Income" is defined as an exchange of labor for money. You can't get taxed for exchanges, only for profits or gains. It's that simple. The lower courts have been pressured/fooled by the IRS for decades when people have challenged the extortion by the IRS. Most often juries are simply told (and believe) that someone should be found "guilty" based soley on whether or not they paid income taxes - never questioning where that law is written down (it doesn't exist).

Watch that movie if you can - it's very interesting.

[progressive_realist]

14. What about the 16th Amendment to the Constitution?

Amendment XVI
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxvi.html

[guruoo]

16. You can see it here....

America: Freedom to Fascism - Authorized version
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198%20&q=

[blogslut]

15. kick

because it's true.

[thingfisher]

17. What is the Democrats plan

to deal with THIS situation?

I read the article the other day. Globalization is for the benefit of no one but corporate interests.