Sanders Supports Treasury Department Regulations to Prevent Corporate Tax Dodging

Sanders Supports Treasury Department Regulations to Prevent Corporate Tax Dodging

WASHINGTON, July 7 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday submitted formal comments to the Department of the Treasury on regulations issued to prevent corporate tax avoidance.

The Treasury Department regulations, which were issued on April 4, effectively enforce the existing law that is meant to prevent corporate inversions and a tax dodge known as “earnings stripping,” which allows corporations that are foreign-owned or inverted to avoid U.S. taxes. The regulations were the result of calls from Sanders and other lawmakers to enforce the law effectively and prevent the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer from its planned inversion.

Predictably, corporate lobbyists have begun an intense campaign to delay or undo the new rules before they are finalized. However, several respected legal scholars have concluded that this action by Treasury Department is well within the authority granted to it under existing law.

“Corporate inversions are essentially a type of legalized tax fraud,” Sanders wrote in his comments to the Treasury Department about proposed regulations to stop corporate inversions. “Stopping these corporate inversions is common sense. A U.S. company should not be allowed to pretend to be a foreign firm for tax purposes even as it continues to enjoy all the benefits of being an American business.”

Sanders has introduced legislation that would prevent corporate tax dodging, including inversions and earnings stripping.

“Given Congress’s failure to enact such legislation, the Treasury Department is appropriately working to ensure that, at the very least, existing law is applied using the authority Congress has already provided to address this problem,” Sanders wrote in a comment on the earnings stripping regulation. “I applaud the Treasury Department and encourage it to continue using its untapped authority to address earnings stripping.”

Click here to read Sanders’ comments on the proposed regulations to prevent corporate inversions.

Click here to read Sanders’ comments on proposed regulations to prevent earnings stripping.