Obama vows tougher overseas tax rules

[dbackjon]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to overhaul tax policies that he said reward companies for shifting U.S. jobs overseas and that allow wealthy people to evade taxes using offshore accounts.

The White House estimates the plan would save $210 billion over the next decade.

In one proposal businesses are poised to fight, Obama would tighten tax-code provisions that allow firms to defer paying taxes on profits they make overseas as long as those earnings are plowed back into the foreign subsidiaries.

That portion of his plan has drawn opposition from big multinational firms as Pfizer Inc and Oracle Corp.

The president said he also would close loopholes and bolster enforcement to prevent companies and individuals to prevent overseas tax avoidance.

"The steps I am announcing today will help us deal with some of the more egregious examples of what is wrong with our tax code," Obama said at a joint announcement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsN ... 2620090504

About time this was done.

[OL FU]

Didn't read it all but part of it sounds like a good idea if you want to make American corporations even less competitive abroad.

[bobbythekidd]

I knee jerked a post. Let me at least read what Jon posted before I do that.

[OL FU]

I knee jerked a post. Let me at least read what Jon posted before I do that.

Well my response was based on this

In one proposal businesses are poised to fight, Obama would tighten tax-code provisions that allow firms to defer paying taxes on profits they make overseas as long as those earnings are plowed back into the foreign subsidiaries.

If I have to pay more taxes than my competitors simply because I am a US Corporation then I am at a competitive disadvantage. Now one can raise all types of issues about expense allocations etc and some of those are justifiable but that is an enforcement issue not a tax rate issue.