The Steep Cost of Tax Dodging

by Jasmine Tucker Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2016 at 6:49 AM
marc1seed@yahoo.com

Supports to a bridge crumble in Iowa City, Iowa, in a photo taken on September 15, 2014. The long-deteriorating infrastructure of the United States is repaired and maintained with tax funds, much of which are currently being withheld in offshore accounts by large corporations...

to read Jasmine Tucker's article published on April 18, 2016, click on
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35679-the-steep-cost-of-tax-dodging


While the Treasury targeting inversions is a start, the burden is on lawmakers to pass legislation to close loopholes and prevent corporations and the wealthy from dodging their US tax responsibilities for good.

President Obama has already called on Congress to adopt policies that would eliminate tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. But given the increasingly polarized and gridlocked Congress, can lawmakers come together to find common-sense solutions to this incredibly pervasive problem?

Tax dodging is just one symptom of a larger issue: a severely broken tax code. Though lawmakers spend an incredible amount of time bickering over how to spend federal dollars, they pay virtually no attention to how those dollars come in. Smart budgeting means not only focusing on stretching dollars as far as they can go, but also creating revenue streams that pay for the investments the nation desperately needs.

One thing is clear: Corporations and the wealthy dodging their taxes means less money to spend on things people in the United States want and need. The tax code hasn't been working for a long time -- it's time for lawmakers to make a change.