The Top 5 Texas Companies Using Offshore Tax Havens–And Where They’re Hiding Their Money
Last week, the TexPIRG Education Fund and the watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice released a new report examining in detail how Fortune 500 companies in the United States are using offshore havens to avoid paying the taxes they owe the federal government.
According to the report, an astounding 72% of American Fortune 500 companies operate subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. Offshore tax havens are defined as “countries with minimal or no taxes.” Because they put their profits into shell companies in tax havens, “multinational corporations are able to avoid an estimated $90 billion in fed- eral income taxes each year.”
Many of the companies who make up the worst offenders on the list are expected. Apple has $111.3 billion offshore, making it the company with the most money offshore. Other offenders include Nike, American Express, and Pfizer, whose tax rates on their billions of dollars are often less than 5% due to storing them in fake offshore shell companies.
Several Texas companies are also named in the report, including one that’s in the top 10. These companies base their primary businesses in Texas, but keep billions of dollars of profits in offshore shell companies to avoid paying the necessary taxes.
