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Pay Up Now, Corporations
We're organized, aware of your tax havens, and ready to boycott
Mar 14, 2011
PayUpNow.org is an online effort to 'uncut' the cutbacks by promoting boycotts of corporations who pay little or no federal income tax.
According to a U.S. Senate subcommittee report, eliminating tax havens could save $100 billion a year. That's a conservative estimate. The IRS calculated that companies and individuals are holding up to $5 trillion in foreign tax havens.
Some of the worst offenders include General Electric, which had $10 billion in profits and received a tax rebate; Bank of America, whose financial statements, according to a Bloomberg report, were "so delusional that they invite laughter"; oil giant Exxon, which paid no U.S. taxes; and Citigroup, with an astounding 427 foreign tax havens.
The list goes on and on. In scanning the Government Accountability Office's list of tax abusers one is struck by the absence of companies WITHOUT tax havens, euphemistically referred to as "financial privacy jurisdictions." Indeed, only 17 of the 100 largest U.S. companies were listed as tax-haven-free.
The $100 billion per year lost to the taxpayers would cover most of the $140 billion budget deficit faced by the 50 states.
Several of the tax evaders are featured at PayUpNow.org, with brief summaries of their recent tax escapades, products to avoid, and links to online forms or email addresses to corporate management. The website was developed by US Uncut members. A Facebook "Pay Up Now" page has also been created.
As noted on the PayUpNow.org website, every effort has been made to provide truthful, documented information. But errors and omissions are likely in such a sensitive area. Corporations are adept at tax strategy. A New York Times story said "G.E. is so good at avoiding taxes that some people consider its tax department to be the best in the world, even better than any law firm's."
Feedback is requested to correct inaccuracies, to add or remove companies depending on their tax-paying behaviors, to clarify company products, and to provide the most suitable modes of communicating to management (online forms or email addresses). The website includes message-sending help. Polite but assertive objection to tax avoidance is essential. Contact information for PayUpNow is offered as a substitute for a message-sender's personal information.
It is occasionally suggested that consumers end up paying corporate taxes anyway, through higher prices. This argument fails when the extraordinary increase in upper management pay is taken into consideration. Literally billions of dollars have gone to the richest 1% while their personal and corporate taxes have decreased. PayUpNow.org is, at the very least, a means of better informing the public of the truth behind the budget deficit.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Paul Buchheit
Paul Buchheit is an advocate for social and economic justice, and the author of numerous papers on economic inequality and cognitive science. He was recently named one of 300 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models. He is the author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (2008) and "Disposable Americans: Extreme Capitalism and the Case for a Guaranteed Income" (2017). Contact email: paul (at) youdeservefacts.org.
PayUpNow.org is an online effort to 'uncut' the cutbacks by promoting boycotts of corporations who pay little or no federal income tax.
According to a U.S. Senate subcommittee report, eliminating tax havens could save $100 billion a year. That's a conservative estimate. The IRS calculated that companies and individuals are holding up to $5 trillion in foreign tax havens.
Some of the worst offenders include General Electric, which had $10 billion in profits and received a tax rebate; Bank of America, whose financial statements, according to a Bloomberg report, were "so delusional that they invite laughter"; oil giant Exxon, which paid no U.S. taxes; and Citigroup, with an astounding 427 foreign tax havens.
The list goes on and on. In scanning the Government Accountability Office's list of tax abusers one is struck by the absence of companies WITHOUT tax havens, euphemistically referred to as "financial privacy jurisdictions." Indeed, only 17 of the 100 largest U.S. companies were listed as tax-haven-free.
The $100 billion per year lost to the taxpayers would cover most of the $140 billion budget deficit faced by the 50 states.
Several of the tax evaders are featured at PayUpNow.org, with brief summaries of their recent tax escapades, products to avoid, and links to online forms or email addresses to corporate management. The website was developed by US Uncut members. A Facebook "Pay Up Now" page has also been created.
As noted on the PayUpNow.org website, every effort has been made to provide truthful, documented information. But errors and omissions are likely in such a sensitive area. Corporations are adept at tax strategy. A New York Times story said "G.E. is so good at avoiding taxes that some people consider its tax department to be the best in the world, even better than any law firm's."
Feedback is requested to correct inaccuracies, to add or remove companies depending on their tax-paying behaviors, to clarify company products, and to provide the most suitable modes of communicating to management (online forms or email addresses). The website includes message-sending help. Polite but assertive objection to tax avoidance is essential. Contact information for PayUpNow is offered as a substitute for a message-sender's personal information.
It is occasionally suggested that consumers end up paying corporate taxes anyway, through higher prices. This argument fails when the extraordinary increase in upper management pay is taken into consideration. Literally billions of dollars have gone to the richest 1% while their personal and corporate taxes have decreased. PayUpNow.org is, at the very least, a means of better informing the public of the truth behind the budget deficit.
Paul Buchheit
Paul Buchheit is an advocate for social and economic justice, and the author of numerous papers on economic inequality and cognitive science. He was recently named one of 300 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models. He is the author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (2008) and "Disposable Americans: Extreme Capitalism and the Case for a Guaranteed Income" (2017). Contact email: paul (at) youdeservefacts.org.
PayUpNow.org is an online effort to 'uncut' the cutbacks by promoting boycotts of corporations who pay little or no federal income tax.
According to a U.S. Senate subcommittee report, eliminating tax havens could save $100 billion a year. That's a conservative estimate. The IRS calculated that companies and individuals are holding up to $5 trillion in foreign tax havens.
Some of the worst offenders include General Electric, which had $10 billion in profits and received a tax rebate; Bank of America, whose financial statements, according to a Bloomberg report, were "so delusional that they invite laughter"; oil giant Exxon, which paid no U.S. taxes; and Citigroup, with an astounding 427 foreign tax havens.
The list goes on and on. In scanning the Government Accountability Office's list of tax abusers one is struck by the absence of companies WITHOUT tax havens, euphemistically referred to as "financial privacy jurisdictions." Indeed, only 17 of the 100 largest U.S. companies were listed as tax-haven-free.
The $100 billion per year lost to the taxpayers would cover most of the $140 billion budget deficit faced by the 50 states.
Several of the tax evaders are featured at PayUpNow.org, with brief summaries of their recent tax escapades, products to avoid, and links to online forms or email addresses to corporate management. The website was developed by US Uncut members. A Facebook "Pay Up Now" page has also been created.
As noted on the PayUpNow.org website, every effort has been made to provide truthful, documented information. But errors and omissions are likely in such a sensitive area. Corporations are adept at tax strategy. A New York Times story said "G.E. is so good at avoiding taxes that some people consider its tax department to be the best in the world, even better than any law firm's."
Feedback is requested to correct inaccuracies, to add or remove companies depending on their tax-paying behaviors, to clarify company products, and to provide the most suitable modes of communicating to management (online forms or email addresses). The website includes message-sending help. Polite but assertive objection to tax avoidance is essential. Contact information for PayUpNow is offered as a substitute for a message-sender's personal information.
It is occasionally suggested that consumers end up paying corporate taxes anyway, through higher prices. This argument fails when the extraordinary increase in upper management pay is taken into consideration. Literally billions of dollars have gone to the richest 1% while their personal and corporate taxes have decreased. PayUpNow.org is, at the very least, a means of better informing the public of the truth behind the budget deficit.
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