Public Citizen’s letter to sponsors of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, opposing the Panama FTA
I am writing to thank you for your co-sponsorship of H.R. 2136 – the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act – in the previous Congress, and to bring to your attention a lingering Bush administration initiative that could undermine the commitment you and President Obama, who was a sponsor of the companion Senate bill, have made to dealing with the pervasive tax-haven problem. This hangover Bush administration project also runs counter to the goal of closing the tax loopholes that promote offshoring of U.S. jobs that many in Congress and President Obama made prominent features of their 2008 election. Further, the November 2008 G-20 Communiqué that was issued after the initial
Washington summit on countering the global financial crisis explicitly enumerated the role of such banking secrecy havens in the crisis, and the need to end such practices as a critical aspect of restabilizing the global financial system.