Groups Support the Goal of Infrastructure Investment but Sharply Criticize Means
WASHINGTON – Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition today released a letter signed by 37 organizations calling on members of the U.S. Senate to oppose a bill by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) that would provide a tax holiday for a portion of U.S. corporate profits held offshore.
“A temporary corporate tax holiday is a form of tax amnesty, pure and simple,” write the co-signers of the letter.
The Partnership to Build America Act (S. 1957) would use revenue raised by a “repatriation tax holiday” to fund a special bank to finance infrastructure projects. Although members of both the ATF and FACT coalitions support infrastructure investment, they strongly oppose financing such investment through a corporate tax amnesty.
The Bennet legislation would allow corporations to “repatriate” up to six dollars of their offshore profits tax free for every one dollar spent on purchasing infrastructure bank bonds. The stated goal of raising $50 billion for the infrastructure bank would cost up to $100 billion in revenue, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
“It would be much cheaper if Congress directly funded infrastructure investments by closing offshore tax loopholes, not use a gimmick that will increase the revenue lost through those loopholes at the taxpayer’s expense,” state the co-signers of the letter released today.
Sen. Bennet’s plan for funding an infrastructure bank through a corporate tax amnesty differs sharply from the plan President Obama included in his FY2015 budget. Although the president also calls for the establishment of an infrastructure bank, he proposes to pay for infrastructure investments with revenues generated by corporate tax reform and by closing corporate tax loopholes, not by providing a tax-free holiday for U.S. corporate profits held offshore.
The Bennet bill is the Senate companion to legislation introduced by Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), also titled the Partnership to Build America Act (H.R. 2084) in the U.S. House. The ATF and FACT coalitions also oppose the Delaney bill.
Americans for Tax Fairness is a diverse coalition of 400 national and state organizations that collectively represent tens of millions of members. The organization was formed on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. ATF is playing a central role in Washington and in the states on federal tax-reform issues.
Founded in 2011, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition unites civil society representatives from small business, labor, government watchdog, faith-based, human rights, anti-corruption, public-interest, and international development organizations. We seek an honest and fair corporate tax code, greater transparency in corporate ownership and operations, and common sense policies to combat the facilitation of money laundering and other criminal activity by the legitimate financial system.
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