By Katherine Skiba, Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON — Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he and other Democrats will unveil a bill Tuesday to curb corporate tax dodging.
No federal contracts would go to businesses that engage in corporate “inversions” to lower their tax bills, Durbin said.
The measure is called the No Federal Contracts for Corporate Deserters Act.
Durbin will appear at a news conference in Washington at 10:15 a.m. EDT to talk about the bill.
The bill would mean no federal contracts would go to businesses that incorporate overseas, are at least 50 percent owned by U.S. shareholders and do not have substantial business opportunities in the foreign country in which they are incorporating.
The law now defines a company as being “inverted” if it is at least 80 percent owned by U.S. shareholders after it reincorporates overseas, according to Durbin.
Drugmaker AbbVie and Walgreen Co. are among the most recent corporations to announce they are “moving their mailbox overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes,” according to a statement from Durbin and the other Democrats.
The others are Senator Carl Levin of Michigan and Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who are to appear with Durbin at the news conference.
The White House estimates that nearly $20 billion in corporate taxes could be lost over the next 10 years because of the corporate merger deals known as inversions.
Photo: Center for American Progress Action Fund via Flickr
