There's A Little $9 Billion Bauble Under The Tree For Wall St., Multinationals

[Amerigo Vespucci]

December 24, 2010 07:00 AM
There's A Little $9 Billion Bauble Under The Tree For Wall St., Multinationals

By Susie Madrak

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/theres-little-9-billion-bauble-under-

It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs, as Obama likes to say. Only they're going overseas:

Amid all the goodies for ethanol producers, NASCAR racetracks and the like, the tax-cut compromise legislation approved by Congress this month also includes a little-noticed sop for Wall Street banks and major multinationals.

And it only costs U.S. taxpayers $9 billion.

Under the provision, financial services firms and manufacturers can defer U.S. taxes on overseas income from a type of financial transaction known as "active financing." Boosters say the two-year exemption helps level the playing field with foreign competitors by ensuring that U.S. corporations aren't taxed twice.

Major business groups and financial companies consider the exemption a key lobbying priority in Congress, which has regularly extended it on a temporary basis for more than a decade. Those lobbying in favor of the policy include dozens of the largest U.S. companies, from General Electric to J.P. Morgan Chase to Caterpillar, records show.

The Active Financing Working Group, a coalition of companies and trade associations focused on the issue, has paid $540,000 in lobbying fees to Elmendorf Strategies since last year, according to Senate disclosure forms.

The exemption ensures "that U.S.-based financial services are able to continue to operate competitively and provide the funds needed for investment and economic growth," the working group wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department.

But the provision has long been opposed by watchdog groups and labor unions as a needless tax break that encourages companies to create jobs overseas instead of within the United States.

[xchrom]

1. i'm coming back as a multi-national corporation in my next life.

those motherfuckers get all the breaks.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Incorporate yourself NOW, save early.

seems like every business I run into is an LLC nowdays.

and, if corporations are people, why not vice-versa.???

[saigon68]

4. Out Fucking -STANDING

</SARCASM>

[xchrom]

6. great idea -- and i need a fat bail-out too. nt

[Autumn]

2. Merry Christmas from the retired and

the poor. Hope you fellas like it.

[bluesbassman]

5. "regularly extended it on a temporary basis for more than a decade."

Sounds kind of permanent to me.

I like this part too:

The exemption ensures "that U.S.-based financial services are able to continue to operate competitively and provide the funds needed for investment and economic growth," the working group wrote in a letter to the Treasury Department.

Really? Just who's "investment and economic growth" are we talking about here. The people who are likely to benefit from this I seriously doubt are the rank and file wage earners in this country.