{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr297-114/featured_stop-tax-haven-abuse-act-1460870388.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr297-114/featured_large_stop-tax-haven-abuse-act-1460870388.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr297-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-01-13","title_override":"Should it be Harder for Corporations to Avoid Taxes on Offshore Profits?","summary_override":"

The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act aims to curb abuses of international tax laws.

It aims to close a variety of offshore tax loopholes, eliminate many of the existing incentives for companies to operate offshore, and impose stricter tax rules on corporations formed in mergers between U.S. and foreign companies.

Specifically, the legislation would amend the Internal Revenue Code to:

Expand reporting requirements for Americans who own shares in certain types of foreign companies.
Clarify when foreign financial institutions and U.S. citizens must report foreign financial accounts to the IRS under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
Prevent companies that are primarily managed and controlled in the U.S. from claiming foreign status for tax purposes.
Close the “credit default swap” loophole that allows corporations to avoid taxes by sending income offshore.
Strengthen the IRS’s ability to use “John Doe summons,” which are used in tax investigations to obtain information on a class of people when the names of offending taxpayers are unknown.
Forbid \"earnings stripping,\" when a U.S. subsidiary decreases its taxable income by borrowing from and making large interest payments to a foreign subsidiary of the same corporation.

Under the legislation, multinational corporations would be required to file a report to the SEC each year listing their employees, sales, finances, tax obligations, and tax payments on a country-by-country basis. Companies failing to disclose any holdings or transactions would be fined.

The bill would also authorize a fine of up to $1 million for corporate insiders who illegally hide offshore holdings. It would increase the maximum fine for aiding and abetting tax evasion to 150 percent of any illegal gains.

It would also require bank examiners to use techniques that detect and prevent tax shelter abuse and tax evasion, and would require hedge funds and private equity funds to enact anti-money laundering programs.

","official_title":"To end offshore tax abuses, to preserve our national defense and protect American families and businesses from devastating cuts, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act\n\nAuthorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose restrictions on foreign jurisdictions or financial institutions operating in the United States that are of primary money laundering concern or that significantly impede U.S. tax enforcement.\n\nAmends the Internal Revenue Code to:\n\n expand reporting requirements for U.S. persons who hold an interest in a passive foreign investment company; establish a rebuttable presumption against the validity of transactions by institutions that do not comply with reporting requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act; treat certain foreign corporations managed and controlled primarily in the United States as domestic corporations for tax purposes; require tax withholding agents and financial institutions to report certain information about beneficial owners of foreign-owned financial accounts; treat swap payments sent offshore as taxable U.S. source income; and impose additional requirements for third party summon...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. That said, the bill would increase the total taxes paid to the federal government. ","impact":"U.S.-based multinational corporations, people who work for these companies and their shareholders, and the IRS. ","argument_for":"This bill would incentivize corporations to move profits and jobs back to the U.S., thereby increasing federal tax income and helping combat inequality.","argument_against":"Additional tax and reporting regulations would stifle the global expansion of U.S.-based companies and create tax uncertainty for businesses.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr297-114","bill_id":"hr297-114","formal_id":"H.R. 297","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-01-13T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/297","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr297ih/html/BILLS-114hr297ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr297-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/297/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-01-13","related_bill_ids":["hr415-114","s198-114","s174-114"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":385,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Financial Services","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSBA","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Ways and Means","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSWM","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr297-114","details":"/api/bills/hr297-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr297-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr297-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr297-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":56,"slug":"hr297-114-stop-tax-haven-abuse-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":3301,"yea_vote_count":2835,"nay_vote_count":458,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["taxes"],"issue_ids":["taxes"],"sponsor_id":453}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"taxes","name":"Taxes","slug":"taxes","description":"US Congressional Legislation related to all types of Taxation: Income Tax, Sales Tax, Property Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Employment Taxes, and the Administration and collection of taxes (including regulating the IRS).","page_title":"Tax Related Federal Legislation including: Income and Sales Tax, Regulating the IRS - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/taxes/black_taxes-1429042039.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/taxes/grey_taxes-1429042039.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/taxes/white_taxes-1429042039.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"John","vote_count":311,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1183104435052794/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1183104435052794/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1183104435052794/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1183104435052794/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/BWYVwlZO/following","followers":"/api/users/BWYVwlZO/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":50,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":1,"following_count":0,"position_count":82,"id":"BWYVwlZO","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"04d30f68-c7a1-4c12-8585-7e37a6b69b0a","argument_for":"If found to be sheltering offshore or in tax havens in states like Nevada they should have to pay additional fines and have a tax levied on them for a set period of years no exceptions.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/04d30f68-c7a1-4c12-8585-7e37a6b69b0a"},"body":"If found to be sheltering offshore or in tax havens in states like Nevada they should have to pay additional fines and have a tax levied on them for a set period of years no exceptions.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-04-22T01:23:22.485Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/04d30f68-c7a1-4c12-8585-7e37a6b69b0a.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr297-114","user_id":"BWYVwlZO","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Should it be Harder for Corporations to Avoid Taxes on Offshore Profits?