Press Releases
Washington - The revelation this week that many wealthy Americans are involved in stretching and often breaking the law to avoid paying their share of federal taxes comes as no real surprise. Unfortunately, neither does the fact that politicians willingly enable this behavior by refusing to close loopholes or enact any true tax reform. It seems as if the "scratch my back" system of campaign contributions and political favors has created a calculation and reciprocation in the form of tax system abuse.
Every year, the United States loses tens of billions of dollars in revenue because companies and wealthy families, who are brazen enough to cheat the system, find ways to bend or break the tax code in their favor. They are aided in this scamming by unscrupulous legal experts who specialize in tax avoidance and by investment mavericks willing to do anything for money.
The other willing accomplice is Congress. Not only does the current Congressional leadership, and many leaders before them as well, continue to enable this horrid behavior by refusing to mend the tax code but they feel inclined to pass exorbitant tax cut packages aimed at the wealthy. "If you cannot find a good tax avoidance counselor, this Congress will make sure that you get a pass with new and ever more regressive tax cuts," says Isaacs
"Who gets hurt in all of this? You, me, our families, and friends end up paying the bill for cheaters and frauds," exclaims Amy Isaacs, National Director of Americans for Democratic Action. "The privileged abusers think they can get a free ride while leaving the working people of America with the bill."
A Senate committee report, recently released, details this abuse. Isaacs adds, "It's past time that Congress pulled their heads out of the sand and summoned the backbone to close these despicable loopholes."
ADA, through the excellent work of ADA Counsel Jack Blum, has been working to highlight these abuses for years including the publication of a number of reports on the issue as well as reiterating in our organizational resolutions that ADA supports legislation to prevent American corporations from evading federal income taxes incorporating offshore.
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