Tech Companies Prepare to Battle Obama on Offshore Tax Deferrals
August 12th, 2009
Pat Garofalo in the Wonk Room over at ThinkProgress has a fascinating post today about the companies which are lining up to oppose President Obama’s crackdown on corporate abuse of tax deferrals. From ThinkProgress:
National Journal reported today that some tech-industry giants are getting ready to “intensify their opposition” to the Obama administration’s plan to limit the use of offshore tax deferrals:
High-tech industry giants such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle will intensify their opposition this fall to an Obama administration proposal aimed at limiting what critics insist are offshore tax breaks…[T]he high-tech sector is fighting back with a lobbying blitz aimed at positioning the deferral as a necessary mechanism that enables U.S. companies to remain competitive in foreign markets — and not as a tax break.
NJ reports that “while proposals to limit tax deferrals and other international tax law changes have yet to find their way into legislation, the tech sector isn’t taking any chances.” “Threats persist,” said Bartlett Cleland, senior director of tax and e-health policy for TechAmerica. The Business Roundtable has also promised to “spend whatever it takes” to preserve the status quo.
Indeed this is a big problem, as multinational corporations will have a lot of untaxed dollars to spend on lobbying against reform – it’s great to see more Washington voices reporting on this.