Tax-Avoidance

New Hampshire LLC Structure Enables Corporate Tax Avoidance While 81% of Businesses Pay No State Business Tax

| Importance: 6/10

New Hampshire operates a unique business tax structure where business activity generates an estimated 39% of state revenue in 2025—the highest proportion of any U.S. state—yet 81% of registered businesses pay no Business Enterprise Tax (BET) or Business Profits Tax (BPT). This dramatic asymmetry …

New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration New Hampshire Legislature Limited Liability Companies corporate-taxation tax-avoidance llc-loopholes business-profits-tax business-enterprise-tax +2 more
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Barre Seid Donates $1.6 Billion to Leonard Leo Dark Money Network

| Importance: 10/10

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 Seid Leonard Leo Marble Freedom Trust Eaton Corporation dark-money conservative-movement judicial-capture nonprofit-financing tax-avoidance +1 more
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Pandora Papers Expose Hidden Wealth of Global Elite and Politicians

| Importance: 9/10

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 Journalists (ICIJ) King Abdullah II of Jordan Andrej Babiš Sebastián Piñera Volodymyr Zelensky +3 more corruption offshore-finance tax-avoidance pandora-papers kleptocracy +2 more
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New York Times Obtains Trump Tax Returns, Reveals $750 in Federal Taxes Paid

| Importance: 9/10

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 Trump New York Times Ivanka Trump Trump Organization tax fraud financial fraud trump organization tax avoidance media investigation
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OECD Estimates Google Avoids $7B+ Annually Through Tax Havens

| Importance: 9/10

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 …

OECD Google Alphabet Tax Justice Network OECD member countries google tax-avoidance oecd offshore global-tax +2 more
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France Orders Google to Pay €1B for Tax Fraud, Settles for €945M

| Importance: 8/10

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 …

Google French tax authority French government Bruno Le Maire (Finance Minister) Paris court google tax-avoidance france tax-fraud settlement +2 more
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Seattle Passes Head Tax on Large Employers—Amazon Threatens Expansion Halt, Washington Post Editorial Aligns with Owner's Interests

| Importance: 8/10

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 …

Amazon Jeff Bezos Washington Post Seattle City Council Jenny Durkan media-capture corporate-welfare tax-avoidance local-politics editorial-capture
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Amazon Pays Zero Federal Income Tax Again on $11.2 Billion Profit—Receives $129 Million Tax Rebate

| Importance: 9/10

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 …

Amazon Jeff Bezos Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy tax-avoidance corporate-welfare wealth-extraction billionaire-impunity
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Google Moves $23B to Bermuda Tax Haven in Single Year

| Importance: 9/10

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 …

Google Alphabet Sundar Pichai Dutch authorities (disclosure) Bermuda shell company google tax-avoidance bermuda offshore shell-companies +2 more
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Johns Hopkins Study Exposes Orphan Drug Act Gaming - Seven of Top 10 Drugs Exploiting Tax Breaks for Rare Diseases

| Importance: 9/10

Johns Hopkins researchers published findings demonstrating that pharmaceutical companies were systematically gaming the 1983 Orphan Drug Act by obtaining orphan drug designations—intended for treatments of rare diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans—for blockbuster drugs generating billions …

Johns Hopkins University FDA AbbVie Roche Johnson & Johnson +4 more pharmaceutical-industry regulatory-capture tax-avoidance drug-pricing healthcare +2 more
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Senate Investigates Google Tax Avoidance, Exposes 2.4% Foreign Tax Rate

| Importance: 9/10

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 Investigations Carl Levin John McCain Google Eric Schmidt +1 more google tax-avoidance senate investigation carl-levin +3 more
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Halliburton Moves CEO and Corporate Headquarters to Dubai for Tax Advantages and Distance from Iraq War Scandals, Weeks Before Completing KBR Spin-Off

| Importance: 8/10

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 …

Halliburton David Lesar Dick Cheney Patrick Leahy tax-avoidance corporate-impunity accountability-crisis conflicts-of-interest regulatory-arbitrage
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Google Establishes "Double Irish, Dutch Sandwich" Tax Avoidance Structure

| Importance: 9/10

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 …

Google Larry Page Sergey Brin Irish government Dutch government +2 more google tax-avoidance ireland bermuda double-irish +3 more
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