Will Republicans Block Action On Corporations Abandoning The U.S.? [View all]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dave-johnson/57909/will-republicans-block-action-on-corporations-abandoning-the-u-s

Will Republicans Block Action On Corporations Abandoning The U.S.?
Corporate America | Republicans | Taxes
by Dave Johnson | August 27, 2014 - 9:26am

There is legislation before Congress to do something about corporations renouncing their US “citizenship.” The odds are that Republicans will block it — and not just because they have obstructed everything else.

There is a wave of news about corporations using a technicality called an “inversion” to renounce their US “citizenship.” An inversion is when a US company buys or merges with a non-US company, and then pretends it is no longer a US company. Today it’s Burger King. Not long ago it was Walgreens.

Keep Same Executives, Employees, Facilities And Customers

Even though an inverted company has renounced its US citizenship, the company keeps the same executives, the same stores or facilities, the same employees, and the same customers — right here in the US. The only things that changes is the company sheds certain tax obligations. The company still receives all the benefits of US roads and infrastructure, police and fire protection, courts, military protection, and the rest. The US still educates its workforce and subsidizes its ultra-low wages with food stamps, Medicaid, and other available government services.

There is legislation to fix this problem. In particular, the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014 has been introduced in both the House and the Senate.