Chicago businessman Barre Seid provided an unprecedented $1.6 billion donation to Leonard Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust through a strategic stock transfer of Tripp Lite to Eaton Corporation. This donation, the largest known to a political advocacy group in U.S. history, potentially avoided …
Barre SeidLeonard LeoMarble Freedom TrustEaton Corporationdark-moneyconservative-movementjudicial-capturenonprofit-financingtax-avoidance+1 more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, the largest offshore data leak in history, containing 11.9 million files from 14 financial services companies across multiple jurisdictions. The investigation exposed the secret offshore affairs of 35 …
International Consortium of Investigative JournalistsKing Abdullah II of JordanAndrej BabišSebastián PiñeraVolodymyr Zelensky+3 morecorruptionoffshore-financetax-avoidancepandora-paperskleptocracy+2 more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, the largest leak of offshore financial documents in history, exposing the secret wealth and tax avoidance schemes of world leaders, politicians, and billionaires. The 11.9 million documents from 14 …
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)King Abdullah II of JordanAndrej BabišVolodymyr ZelenskyyTony Blair+3 moreoffshoretax-avoidancecorruptionpandora-papersicij+4 more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, the largest leak of offshore financial documents in history, exposing the secret wealth and tax avoidance schemes of world leaders, politicians, and billionaires. The 11.9 million documents from 14 …
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)King Abdullah II of JordanAndrej BabišVolodymyr ZelenskyyTony Blair+3 moreoffshoretax-avoidancecorruptionpandora-papersicij+4 more
The New York Times obtained and published a comprehensive investigation into President Donald Trump’s tax returns covering more than 20 years, revealing that Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 (the year he won the presidency) and 2017 (his first year in office). The …
Donald TrumpNew York TimesIvanka TrumpTrump OrganizationTax FraudFinancial FraudTrump OrganizationTax AvoidanceMedia Investigation
By 2020, OECD analysis of multinational corporate tax avoidance identified Google among the most aggressive tax avoiders globally, with the company systematically avoiding an estimated $7+ billion annually in taxes through profit shifting to tax havens—maintaining an effective global tax rate under …
OECDGoogleAlphabetTax Justice NetworkOECD member countriesgoogletax-avoidanceoecdoffshoreglobal-tax+2 more
On September 12, 2019, Google agreed to pay €945 million ($1.1 billion) to French authorities to settle a four-year tax fraud investigation—avoiding criminal prosecution by negotiating a financial settlement despite evidence of systematic tax evasion. The case exemplified how corporate tax fraud is …
GoogleFrench tax authorityFrench governmentBruno Le Maire (Finance Minister)Paris courtgoogletax-avoidancefrancetax-fraudsettlement+2 more
Seattle’s City Council unanimously passed a “head tax” on large employers on May 14, 2018, taxing companies earning $20 million+ annually at $275 per full-time employee to fund affordable housing and homeless services. Amazon—with 45,000 Seattle employees and facing a $12 million …
AmazonJeff BezosWashington PostSeattle City CouncilJenny Durkanmedia-capturecorporate-welfaretax-avoidancelocal-politicseditorial-capture
Amazon paid zero federal income tax for the second consecutive year despite nearly doubling its U.S. profits to $11.2 billion in 2018. Beyond avoiding all federal taxes, Amazon actually received a $129 million tax rebate from the federal government—yielding a negative 1% effective tax rate. This …
AmazonJeff BezosInstitute on Taxation and Economic Policytax-avoidancecorporate-welfarewealth-extractionbillionaire-impunity
Dutch regulatory filings revealed that in 2017, Google transferred $23 billion (€19.9 billion) through its Netherlands shell company to its Bermuda-based entity—one of the largest single-year tax avoidance maneuvers in corporate history, allowing Google to avoid approximately $4 billion in taxes on …
GoogleAlphabetSundar PichaiDutch authorities (disclosure)Bermuda shell companygoogletax-avoidancebermudaoffshoreshell-companies+2 more
Amazon reported $5.6 billion in U.S. profits for 2017 yet paid zero federal income tax, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The company used various tax credits and deductions—particularly tax breaks for executive stock options—to completely eliminate …
AmazonJeff BezosInstitute on Taxation and Economic Policytax-avoidancecorporate-welfarewealth-extractionbillionaire-impunity
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published the Panama Papers, revealing how Mossack Fonseca helped wealthy individuals and public officials hide assets in offshore shell companies. The leak exposed over 214,000 offshore entities and implicated 12 current and former world …
The Panama Papers was a groundbreaking investigative journalism project coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016. Based on 11.5 million leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm, the investigation exposed a complex global network of …
Mossack FonsecaVladimir PutinPetro PoroshenkoNawaz SharifKing Salman+3 morepanama-papersoffshore-financetax-avoidanceshell-companiesinvestigative-journalism+1 more
On May 21, 2013, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings examining multinational corporation tax avoidance, with Google as a primary focus. The investigation exposed that Google paid only a 2.4% tax rate on foreign profits—avoiding approximately $2 billion annually in taxes …
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on InvestigationsCarl Levin (Chairman)John McCainGoogleEric Schmidt+1 moregoogletax-avoidancesenateinvestigationcarl-levin+3 more
Halliburton announced on March 12, 2007, that it was relocating its corporate headquarters and CEO David Lesar from Houston, Texas, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, citing business opportunities in the Middle East where 38% of its $13 billion in oil field services revenue originated and 16,000 …
By 2003, Google had established the “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich”—the most sophisticated corporate tax avoidance structure in history—allowing the company to route profits through Ireland, Netherlands, and Bermuda to avoid paying billions in taxes on non-US revenues despite …
GoogleLarry PageSergey BrinIrish governmentDutch government+2 moregoogletax-avoidanceirelandbermudadouble-irish+3 more
Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts create massive corporate tax loopholes through permissive depreciation rules and reduced rates, causing corporate tax revenue to plummet from 25% of federal revenue in the 1950s to just 6.2% by 1983. The tax law allows corporations to slash or erase tax obligations …
Ronald ReaganCorporate AmericaInternal Revenue ServiceCongresscorporate-taxestax-avoidanceloopholesreaganomicstax-policy