April 12: Report: Tax Haven Abuse Shorts U.S. Treasury to Tune of $2,116 for Every Small Business in America
Click here to view formatted copy of this release.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 12
CONTACT: Rachel Tardiff, rachel[at]fitzgibbonmedia.com
REPORT: TAX HAVEN ABUSE BY U.S. CORPORATIONS SHORTS U.S. TREASURY OF REVENUES TO TUNE OF $2,116 FOR EVERY SMALL BUSINESS IN AMERICA
Main Street Alliance joins U.S. PIRG, Rep. Van Hollen, Business for Shared Prosperity to release report highlighting cost of tax haven abuse to small businesses
** State by state numbers on cost of tax haven abuse to small businesses available **
Washington, DC – On Thursday morning, the Main Street Alliance joined U.S. PIRG, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Business for Shared Prosperity and the American Sustainable Business Council at a Capitol Hill press conference releasing U.S. PIRG’s new report “Picking Up the Tab: Average Citizens and Small Businesses Pay the Price for Offshore Tax Havens.”
According to the report, tax haven abuse by U.S. corporations shortchanges the U.S. Treasury of revenues by an average of $2,116 for every small business in America (using Census numbers for businesses with fewer than 100 employees). Click here to read the report (small business section on page 10, state by state tables on pp. 17-18).
“When big corporations use loopholes and tax havens to avoid paying taxes, they’re robbing our country of the revenues we need to invest in our future and support small businesses,” said Aimee McQuilkin, owner of Betty’s Divine, an independent clothing boutique in Missoula, Montana and a leader with the Montana Small Business Alliance and Main Street Alliance. “If you want to fly the American flag outside your corporate headquarters, you should pay your way.”
Joseph Rotella, owner of Spencer Organ Company in Waltham, Massachusetts and a leader with Business for Shared Prosperity, spoke at the report release event on Capitol Hill. “While I’ll be paying my taxes – investing in the public infrastructure and services that underpin our economy – many profitable large corporations will be paying a lower tax rate than me or not paying taxes at all,” Rotella said. “That puts small businesses at a competitive disadvantage and undermines our nation. We need to stop the tax haven abuse that lets big corporations avoid paying their fair share and gives them an unfair advantage in the marketplace.”
According to a Senate investigation, the U.S. Treasury loses an estimated $100 billion a year due to tax haven abuse, with $60 billion of that being tax avoidance by U.S. corporations.
In a recent scientific survey of 500 small business owners nationwide, nine out of ten small business owners say U.S. multinationals’ use of accounting loopholes to shift profits to offshore subsidiaries to avoid taxes is a problem. Three quarters of small business owners say their small business is harmed when loopholes allow big corporations to avoid taxes. And more than two thirds of small business owners believe big corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes. Full survey results are available here: http://bit.ly/report-taxes
The Main Street Alliance, Business for Shared Prosperity, and other business groups have signed on in support of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act and the CUT Loopholes Act, bills sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Levin to rein in tax haven abuse and recover lost revenues.
Click here to read the “Picking Up the Tab” report: http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/picking-tab
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Poll: Small Business Owners Say Big Businesses, Millionaires Not Paying Fair Share of Taxes
Small business owners see corporate tax loopholes and accounting gimmicks used to shift U.S. profits offshore to avoid taxes as serious problems, according to independent nationwide opinion polling released on February 6. Small business owners say big corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share of taxes. They support increasing taxes on millionaire incomes, allowing high-end tax cuts to expire, and closing the carried interest loophole that gives big tax breaks to hedge fund managers.
These are among the key findings of a scientific nationwide survey of small business owners commissioned by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority.
Click here to read the report.
Click here to read the press release about the report.
March 26: Auto Mechanics to Supreme Court: ACA Passes Inspection, NFIB Doesn’t Speak for Us
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** SMALL BUSINESS MEDIA AVAILABILITY FOR SUPREME COURT ORAL ARGUMENTS **
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2012
CONTACT: Rachel Tardiff, Rachel[at]Fitzgibbonmedia.com, 202-746-1507
AUTO MECHANICS TO SUPREME COURT: “THE ACA PASSES OUR INSPECTION – NFIB DOESN’T SPEAK FOR US”
Auto shop owners illustrate small business benefits of health law, presenting sharp counterpoint to NFIB plaintiff (also an auto shop owner) who closed her business and filed bankruptcy with unpaid medical bills
** Auto shop owners from Maine, Maryland, Oregon and Washington available for interviews **
Washington, DC – The owners of small auto repair shops from coast to coast have a message for the Supreme Court as it hears oral arguments, including a challenge from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), on the Affordable Care Act this week. The mechanics’ message: “The health care law passes our inspection with flying colors, so when NFIB argues against it, remember this: NFIB doesn’t speak for us.”
Auto shop owners from across the country can speak to concrete benefits they’re getting from the Affordable Care Act. Examples include the small business health care tax credit, reduced rates thanks to the 80/20 value for premiums rule, and health coverage from a pre-existing condition insurance plan.
In a blow to the NFIB’s case, recent reports broke the news that its lead plaintiff, an auto shop owner from Florida, was forced to close her business and file for bankruptcy last year with thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills. Further complicating NFIB’s claim to represent non-partisan small business interests before the Court, a December op-ed in the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Karl Rove-connected Crossroads groups contributed $3.7 million to NFIB in 2010, the same year it joined the lawsuit against the ACA.
Auto shop owners available for interviews on the ACA, the Supreme Court, and NFIB include:
Jim Houser, owner of Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Oregon. Jim’s business is benefiting from the ACA’s small business health care tax credit. Jim said:
“We thought we were going to qualify for a credit of about $5,000. Well, we were in for a surprise. When we ran the final numbers, we received a credit of almost $13,000! This health care tax credit and the Affordable Care Act are like a time machine, rolling our health care costs back to what they were years ago.”
Brian England, owner of British American Auto Care in Columbia, Maryland. Brian saw his premiums go down for the first time in memory thanks to the ACA’s 80/20 value for premiums rule. Brian said:
“When we sat down with our agent, I was bracing myself for bad news. But when he gave us our quotes, my worry turned to disbelief. Our rates were going DOWN 6 percent! I almost fell off my chair. Our agent explained the rate cut was thanks to the medical loss ratio requirement in the Affordable Care Act. It’s a piece of the law that requires health insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on health care costs.
“As a small business owner, I’m committed to providing good value to our customers. It seems only fair that we should be able to expect the same from our health insurance companies.”
Laura Waite, owner of Jay’s Professional Automotive in Renton, Washington. Laura was denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, but she’s getting the care she needs and still doing what she loves thanks to the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan. Laura said:
“When I got that rejection letter, the thought that kept going through my head was that we’d have to close our business and find jobs with health insurance. It was a devastating thought. Then I found out about the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan. I signed up. I’ve since learned that my psoriasis has led to other conditions that need treatment. I’m getting the care I need, and my husband and I are still doing what we love.”
Don Orange, owner of Hoesly ECO Auto & Tire in Vancouver, Washington. Don is happy to see his state of Washington moving forward to implement a state insurance exchange for small businesses. Don said:
“We’ve got to keep moving forward on health care. This is no time to throw it into reverse. These insurance exchanges are going to give small businesses better choices and more bargaining power. I don’t want that taken away.
“For a long time, I couldn’t figure why a group like NFIB would want to put small business owners back in the nightmare scenario health care was for us before the new law. Then I heard about the millions of dollars they got from Karl Rove’s Crossroads groups. Is it the National Federation of Independent Business, or the National Federation of Karl Rove?”
David White, owner of MDI Imported Car Service in Bar Harbor, Maine. David has seen first-hand how rising costs crippled small businesses before health care reform. Back in the early 2000s, faced with a 50 percent hike in his health premiums, he had to do three things: increase employee cost-sharing, raise his prices, and lay off one person for six months. David said:
“Thanks to the payment reforms and the insurance exchanges of the Affordable Care Act, I have peace of mind knowing that I won’t lose my business or my employees because of mounting health care costs. My business, like the dollar and the economy as a whole, runs on confidence; and that’s what the ACA provides me.”
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The Main Street Alliance is a national network of state-based small business coalitions. MSA creates opportunities for small business owners to speak for themselves on issues that impact their businesses and local economies. www.mainstreetalliance.org
January 18: Poll: Supreme Court Citizens United Decision Hurts Small Businesses
Two-thirds of American small business owners believe the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case handed down two years ago on January 21 hurts small companies, according to an independent national survey of 500 small business owners released on January 18 by the Main Street Alliance, the American Sustainable Business Council, and Small Business Majority.
Click here to read the press release from MSA, SBM, and ASBC
