How corporations pay little tax... through legal tax avoidance

How corporations pay little tax... through a legal tactic of tax "Avoidance"

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Here is a simplified example, from my understanding of how tax avoidance works:

1. You decide you need to buy a pair of pants...
2. A US national store chain "S" has a pair of pants you want to buy for $100... 
3. "S" is a multinational corporation headquartered in the US... and needs to report profits and gain for tax purposes in the US...
4. Company "S" has also 'secretly' set up a separate international business corporation (IBC) in a tax haven country like Panama, The Cayman Islands, The Isle of Man, etc. called Company "A"...
5. Company "A" has no legal link to Company "S" and acts as broker who purchases the pants for $5 from a manufacturer in Burma...
6. Company "S" then orders and purchases the pants from Company "A" for $90...
7. This allows Company "A" to make a profit of $85 on the pants. There is legally no tax liability to Company "A" since it is domiciled or located outside US tax jurisdiction and is legally not a division of Company "S"...
8. Company "S," after costs of $90 to purchase pants along with $8 for operating costs, reports a profit of $2 [2%] as their tax liability on the sale of the pants...
9. Other real profits [85%] made on the pants are legally held in sheltered accounts offshore...
10. This is considered legal tax avoidance and not tax evasion (which would be a criminal offense in the US).
11. While there may be some moral or ethical issues with deceptive or secretive practices, there are no illegal activities involved according to the rules of the game in each country or jurisdiction.

In addition, the offshore profits can be transferred to another IBC and eventually used by Company "S" in the US through business loans. This would also provide "S" with the opportunity to deduct some interest as business expenses on what is actually their own hidden money, laundered through several offshore accounts back to "S" in the form of a 'loan.'
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This information has been gained through research. I am not an expert or certified in any of these areas. This information is provided only as an example for educational purposes.

Don't you just love corporate greed?

I hope not.

The heart and collective soul of the modern world has become as hardened and cold as the concrete and steel of our modern cities. Economic and business practices are structured to produce wealth while ignoring the interconnected web of our Mother Earth.

How can so many justify stripping the land and forests and poisoning the waters and atmosphere with toxic chemicals in the name of a better economy. What kind of thinking would direct the destruction of the intricately entwined systems of life support that may eventually kill the 'dominators' themselves?

There is anger and sadness. The earth mother will survive. But it is wrong to abuse the land and stricken her children through uncommon nonsensical business practices designed by greed and justified by saying it brings money to an area and its people. This is unethical and immoral 'bullshit' promulgated by politicians and corporations that are blind, deaf, and dumb to the crumbling world around us all.

Love demands us to stand in the way of slaughter. If someone has lost control and commits harm against other people, there are laws that guide us to take action. Since the Supreme Court has decided that corporations are people too, does it not follow that business decisions and practices that destroy and abuse the life system of the earth and its inhabitant should receive equal justice and policing.

"Oh, but it will cost too much money if we have regulations and enforcement in place," the 'business leaders' and politicians tell us. "It is not in the interests of good business," they say. They assure us, "we can police ourselves." And how is that working out?  Yes, I know, business leaders and politicians are people too. But if actions of the insane are harming others and the planet, then someone has to stand up and say "ENOUGH"!!! The problem is there are not large enough asylums or enough money to buy the politicians 'will' to do anything about it. And most politicians seem just as insane or unconscious as the nameless 'people' who are corporations... at lest it seems that way.

But most of us are lost in the maze of other interests and feel helpless to effect change. Our system of government seems broken. Even when someone wants to effect change, it is near impossible with some many so-called "legislators" in the pocket and agreeing with the moneyed interests of Big business, Big bankers, and their Lobbyists who always seem to know how to spin things.

It baffles me how so many religious folks can preach 'love' and then continually vote for Big business interests over the welfare of our planet and her people. It is as if they have been separated from their soul as creatures of the Great Mother. Yes, I know that is not a very "christian" term... how about protecting the 'Creator's handiwork.'

I know all religious people do not agree with destroying the earth to make a buck. But enough voters are self-centered enough that they want individual rights over the protection of the planet. And somehow the Big Money Spinners have subtly or otherwise brainwashed many of the religious 'right' to think that unbridled greed and uncaring actions are the same as good business practices...and that individual rights equals "free market capitalism" ...That is like saying to an individual, you can go and do whatever you want to do to get whatever you want.

It may be too late for many structures and life forms in the modern world, but for those who dare to love, we must continue the work of standing up for the protection of the earth and her inhabitants in any peaceful way we can. To do harm would be to escalate the war games of corporate America along with the global multinational web of economic conspirators. For me and a few friends, action with the energies of Peace and Love remain the answer.