The British offered Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold £20,000 for betraying West Point to the Crown.
Benedict Arnold
But Arnold was a piker compared to companies that are raking in literally billions of untaxed dollars by betraying the United States in its time of economic trial.
To avoid paying their legitimate share of taxes, they move their headquarters overseas to countries with reduced tax rates. In tax parlance, this is called an “inversion.”
For almost 20 years, tax-avoiding corporations fled to Caribbean countries such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. But in 2004, Congress ruled that American companies could relocate overseas if foreign shareholders owned 20% of their stock.
But increased media attention to “income inequality” has led Democratic lawmakers to press for a long-overdue reform: Raising the stock threshold to 50%.
This would make it harder for firms to abandon their country.
These are the companies abandoning the U.S. to dodge taxes – The Washington Post
Yet a more comprehensive reform package would include:
- American companies that move their headquarters out of the United States would be officially declared “agents of a foreign power engaged in treasonous activity against the United States.”
- Under this designation, these “foreign-owned” companies would be forbidden to sell products within the United States.
- As “agents of a foreign power,” their assets would be subject to confiscation by agents of the Internal Revenue Service.
- The citizenship of those Americans engaged in such treasonous activity would be revoked and they would be ordered to leave the United States on pain of criminal prosecution for treason.
Below is a chart compiled by the Ways and Means Committee Democrats of the U.S. House of Representatives. It compiles 47 corporate “inversions” within the last decade.
From the chart’s introduction:
“Forty-seven U.S. corporations have reincorporated overseas through corporate inversions in the last 10 years, far more than during the previous 20 years combined, according to new data compiled by the Congressional Research Service [CRS].
“In total, 75 U.S. corporations have inverted since 1994 – with one other inversion occurring in 1983. What’s more, there are a dozen prospective inversion deals involving U.S. corporations looking to reincorporate overseas, according to CRS
“The new data underscores the significant increase in the number of U.S. corporations that have or are seeking to lower their U.S. taxes by reincorporating overseas.
“It also adds urgency to a legislative solution. Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin in May introduced legislation that would tighten rules to limit inversions.
“The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the legislation would save $19.5 billion over 10 years. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Carl Levin.
“‘Barely a week seems to pass without news that another corporation plans to move its address overseas simply to avoid paying its fair share of U.S. taxes,’” said Ranking Member Levin.
“These corporate inversions are costing the U.S. billions of dollars and undermining vital domestic interests.
“‘We can and should address this problem immediately through legislation to tighten rules to limit the ability of corporations to simply change their address and ship U.S. tax dollars overseas.’”
New CRS Data: 47 Corporate Inversions in Last Decade | Committee on Ways and Means
Among those companies that have chosen to betray their country in its time of economic need:
- Medtronic Pharmaceuticals. Revenues: $16.5 billion
- Perrigo/Elan Pharmaceuticals. Revenues: $3.5 billion
- Chiquita Brands. Revenues: $3 billion
- Liberty Global PLC Cable Company. Revenues: $17.3 billion
- Eaton/Cooper Power Management. Revenues: $22 billion
- Pentair Water Filtration. Revenues: $7.5 billion
- AON Insurance. Revenues: $11.8 billion
- Global Indemnity Insurance. Revenues: $319 billion
- ENSCO International (oil and gas drilling). Revenues: $4.9 billion
- Coviden Healthcare. Revenues: $10.2 billion
- Herbalife International (nutrition). Revenues: $4.8 billion
- Ingersoll-Rand (industrial manufacturer). Revenues: $12.3 billion
- Accenture Consulting. Revenues: $28.6 billion
- Seagate Technology. Revenues: $14.4 billion
- Tycho International (manufacturing). Revenues: $10.6 billion
- Chicago Bridge & Iron. Revenues: $11.1 billion
- Transocean (offshore oil drilling). Revenues: $9.4 billion
- White Mountain Insurance. Revenues: $2.3 billion
The most popular countries for these “inversions” are:
- The Cayman Islands
- Bermuda
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Switzerland
- Netherlands
