Republicans misleadingly claim that ‘American manufacturers’ pay half of corporate minimum tax to shield well-known tax dodgers operating offshore
Washington, D.C.—In response to Finance Committee Republicans release of misleading data suggesting the corporate minimum tax was primarily a tax on “American manufacturers,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., today released additional data provided by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) that rebuts this deceptive claim.
About half of the 15 percent corporate minimum tax paid by “American manufacturers” would include well-known tax dodgers in the pharmaceutical and technology industries, as well as other outsourcers like the apparel industry, where 97 percent of clothing sold in the U.S. is made in overseas factories.
“Republicans always distort the truth about tax changes to protect corporate tax dodging, but this new analysis shows they’re clearly wrong about the corporate minimum tax proposal and manufacturing. Big pharma, tech and apparel companies would account for half the revenue coming in from ‘manufacturers’ under the corporate minimum tax. These companies are playing the most games, and avoiding tax by manufacturing their drugs, phones, and shoes abroad. This is a minimum tax for tax dodgers stamping ‘Made in China’ on their products,” said Wyden. “Here’s an example of the kind of company we’re talking about: The Finance Committee just released a report showing that one of the biggest drug companies in the world paid about 9 percent in taxes while making nearly $8 billion in profit. This company produces its best-selling drug overseas, while the vast majority of its revenue is from American customers. This is the type of company Republicans are defending to justify their continued support of corporate tax avoidance. The American people know that’s wrong, and they want to see companies with billions in profits contribute their fair share.”
“This analysis shows that American manufacturing would not be hurt by having multinational corporations pay a 15% minimum tax on billions in profit. About 200 of the largest, most profitable corporations ship jobs overseas while paying a lower tax rate than most business and workers,” said Warren. “Republican politicians and their corporate lobbyist friends are rushing to defend tax loopholes for billionaire corporations, while Democrats are working to invest in manufacturing clean energy technology and lower costs for working families.”
The JCT analysis is available here.
A web version of this release is here.