WASHINGTON - On Tax Day, April 15, Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduces the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, with 45 original cosponsors. This legislation closes offshore tax loopholes and requires country-by-country reporting of corporate tax payments to both developed and developing nations. This reporting is critical to curbing illicit financial flows, a systemic cause of poverty.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, a religious antipoverty organization, releases the following statement:

“On Tax Day, the religious community couldn't be more pleased with Congressman Doggett and his vital legislation that protects poor people inside and outside our borders. His legislation means that corporations can't rob billions of dollars from poor people across the globe.

“A critical piece of the legislation is country-by-country reporting of corporate payments to governments. Reporting at this level sheds light on the tax dodging that hurts all of us.

“It's pretty amazing. A few years ago no one talked about tax havens, let alone how corporate tax avoidance constitutes a theft from the poor. But now as people of faith call for the end of these offshore abuses, we are joining voices across the political spectrum with people who detest this corporate behavior from The Occupy Movement to The Tea Party.”