Citizens & Workers Call on Congress to Close Corporate Tax Loopholes

Contact: Gary Zuckett, WV Citizen Action, 304-437-3701, garyz at wvcag.org

CITIZENS & WORKERS CALL ON CONGRESS TO
HELP FUND THE FEDERAL BUDGET BY
CLOSING CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES

Activists expose Verizon’s stashed offshore profits; urge Senator Manchin to support $1 trillion in revenue from the richest 2% and Big Corporations during Senate budget debate

Huntington- WV, WV Citizen Action Group, state partner of Americans for Tax Fairness, a national coalition representing more than 275 groups pressing for a fairer tax system, joined with workers represented by Communication Workers of America and SEIU-1199 to hold a protest at the downtown Huntington Verizon Wireless store to highlight the fact that Verizon has paid less than ZERO federal income tax for the past four years. Speakers urged Senator Manchin to close special-interest tax loopholes that benefit the rich and big corporations like Verizon in order to put more revenue into the federal budget to protect critical benefits and services that West Virginia families depend upon.

“Verizon’s paid no income tax for the years 2008-2011 through stashing profits overseas and other ‘creative accounting’ tricks. This tax-dodging and off-shoring should be illegal and we’re calling on Senator’s Manchin and Rockefeller to make Verizon and all other multinationals pay their fair share, commented Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of WV Citizen Action, a state-wide consumer protection group. “This is a matter of fairness because when the big companies weasel out of paying their taxes, the small main street businesses and individual tax payers have to pay more.”

The PIRG report “Representation without Taxation” outlines how Verizon and the other ‘Dirty Thirty’ corporations lobby congress for ever more tax breaks and loopholes to stash their profits.  See: http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/representation-without-taxation

“The Senate budget being voted on next week raises $1 trillion by closing tax loopholes so that the richest 2% and big corporations have to pay their fair share. It’s time the lucky few who’ve been stashing away huge profits in offshore tax havens for years, did their part,” said Zuckett.

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