House Passes Legislation to Close Tax Loopholes and Keep Jobs in the U.S.

This
Friday, the House of Representatives passed the "American Jobs
and
Closing Tax Loopholes Act," by a vote of 215
- 204. The Act, voted on in two parts, will curtail
tax avoidance by multi-national corporations and lessen the incentive to
move
jobs overseas. The
Act also taxes the income of investment fund managers as income and not
at the
15 percent capital gains rate, which is the current practice.

Statement from Nicole
Tichon, Tax Reform Analyst for U.S.
Public Interest Research Group:

"These tax reforms
couldn't come at a
more important or more appropriate time. This bill ends the practice of
subsidizing Wall Street gamblers who get a tax break for getting up in
the
morning and doing their jobs. It changes a system that rewards
corporations
that move jobs and profits offshore. These are simple, common sense ways
to
simultaneously make the tax system more fair and help restore fiscal
responsibility.

"Corporations and fund
managers want all
the benefits of doing business here in the United States and all the
benefits
of government support and contracts, but few of the responsibilities.
There's
no real justification for these loopholes. There's only been
misinformation and
scare tactics from those who want to protect billionaires and companies
that
outsource American jobs.

"We applaud those
Members of Congress who
stood up to some of the most powerful special interests that have
swarmed the
Capitol.

"Now the Senate has a
critical decision
to make: it can stand with taxpayers or it can shirk its responsibility.

"It's hard to imagine
anyone campaigning
on protecting hedge fund managers, Wall Street banks and companies that
ship
jobs and profits overseas. It's hard to imagine telling constituents
that
somehow they should continue to subsidize these industries. We're
anxious to
see whose side the Senate is on and what story they want to tell the
American
people."

Click
here to read U.S. PIRG's "Who Slows the Pace of Tax Reforms?" report
on the
corporations lobbying against tax reforms.

Click
here to read U.S.
PIRG's "First Trillion" report on reducing the deficit and debt.

Click
here for Nicole Tichon's "In the Public Interest" column in The
Huffington
Post on the carried interest loophole.

Read U.S.
PIRG's letter
(PDF) to Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles
Grassley
(R-IA) encouraging them to keep the "carried interest" provision in the
final
bill.