American Companies, Not Inverters, Should Get Coronavirus Aid
Statement of Susan Harley, Deputy Director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division
Note: U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) today introduced the American Assistance for American Companies Act, which would prevent businesses that “inverted” – meaning they shifted their headquarters to a foreign country to avoid paying U.S. taxes – from accessing bailout funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
American taxpayers should not be propping up corporations that shirked their responsibilities and deserted paying their U.S. taxes. The name of the bill says it all: American assistance should be going only to American companies. Tax dodgers do not deserve to get bailout funding under the CARES Act. Aid should go to families and Main Street mom n’ pop companies, not corporate entities that, according to their incorporation papers, are headquartered in tax havens.
Tax avoidance schemes have hurt Uncle Sam’s bottom line for years. Let’s not add insult to injury by allowing hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to go to unpatriotic “inverted” companies. Public Citizen urges Congress to quickly pass this legislation and include these limitations in upcoming pandemic aid packages.