Marylanders Urge Congress to Pass the President’s Budget Blueprint for Restoring Fairness to the Tax Code and Growing the Economy for the Rest of America through Transformational Investments in Education, Healthcare and Clean Energy
Baltimore – Maryland taxpayers gathered at the Baltimore main Post Office today to show their support for President Barack Obama’s plan to help restore fairness to the tax code by putting an end to offshore tax havens for Corporate America. Hailed as blueprint for long-term economic prosperity, Maryland taxpayers urged their lawmakers to pass the President’s budget plan that will grow the economy for the rest of America through transformational investments in health care reform, education, and clean energy.
Major US corporations avoid as much as $100 billion a year in federal taxes by hiding profits in foreign countries. According to a Maryland PIRG report (available at www.marylandpirg.org), released at the event, this loophole results in over $1.9 billion in additional tax burden for taxpayers here in Maryland.
“President Obama wants to fix a tax code that has been carved and twisted by banks and corporations,” said Maryland PIRG State Director Johanna Neumann. “Today should be the last Tax Day when high-priced accountants and secret post office boxes are valued over hard work and accountability.”
At the event, advocates from the Renew and Rebuild America Now Campaign (http://www.rebuildandrenew.org/), a coalition of 114 national organizations working together to pass President Obama’s budget blueprint, asked taxpayers dropping off their federal returns to call their representatives in Congress and encourage support for Obama’s plan.
Over 80 percent of the largest companies in the US hide profits in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens. The companies include American Express, A.I.G, Boeing, Cisco, Dow, Hewlett-Packard, J.P. Morgan Chase and Pfizer. In fact, over 18,000 U.S. companies currently maintain a post office box in one five story building in the Cayman Islands to take advantage of the loophole.
“By closing unfair tax loopholes more money can be invested in clean energy, creating jobs right here in Maryland,” said Pete Johnson with the Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. “In these tough economic times our country needs to find ways make things again, right here on our soil. We should be creating jobs that can’t be shipped overseas; this will reduce global warming pollution. The clean energy economy is on its way and Maryland can decide to grab this opportunity or sit back and watch others benefit.”
Obama’s budget proposal, which is working its way towards final passage in the Congress, recommends closing this outrageous loophole and giving additional tax relief to middle-class taxpayers.
“How can we invest in America's future if our largest corporations are hiding billions of dollars abroad? It's both unfair and unpatriotic,” said Matthew Weinstein, Federal Issues Director with Progressive Maryland. “The President's long-term vision that ends wasteful corporate handouts and invests these resources in rebuilding America's economy and prosperity is similar to our efforts in Annapolis that have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars by closing state corporate tax loopholes.”
“The weight of tax-dodging corporations is being carried by the rest of us and it is simply unfair,” said Neumann. “The President’s budget plan fully turns the page on the failed policies of the past by ending wasteful corporate handouts and investing instead in important priorities that were shortchanged in the past. We simply cannot make an economy that works for everyone without restoring fairness to the tax code, fixing our broken health care system, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and investing in tomorrow’s educated workforce. And that’s what the President’s budget is all about.”
