Throwing Billions Through a Loophole

Submitted by Melissa Hoffmann on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 11:23

Offshore tax havens: you either love 'em (because you have lots of money) or you hate 'em (because you don't).

The call to halt use of such tax avoidance schemes has been a constant for years, though it hasn't stopped billions of untaxed dollars from flowing through them. 

How many billions? Who knows? The IRS sure doesn't.

A report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said the IRS has failed to provide a reliable estimate of the international tax gap, the amount of taxes due to the U.S. from international transactions. Another report indicates that the U.S. loses about $100 billion a year. WebCPA recently noted that legislation has been introduced to address these loopholes.

The question: this time, will it work? The government certainly could use $100 billion right now.

 

 

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