Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) , a member of the Senate Finance Committee , joined the Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act , legislation led by U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-07) , which would provide transparency around corporations’ use of tax havens and incentives to offshore jobs. The lawmakers’ bill would require public companies to disclose their financial reporting on a country-by-country basis to give Americans insight into how the tax system incentivizes the outsourcing of American jobs or enables corporations to dodge U.S. taxes. The legislation would also provide investors with the tools they need to understand the tax structures and risks of the businesses in which they invest. “Our tax law in the United States is totally broken–we have a system where corporations are incentivized to ship profits and good-paying jobs overseas. The American people deserve full transparency about how companies are using these loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. We’re working to ensure that corporations are held accountable for hiding profits in foreign tax havens,” said Senator Welch . “While working Americans struggle to get by, large corporations continue to ship jobs overseas and take advantage of tax loopholes to hide their profits. This bill will provide critical transparency to both the American public and investors as to how these corporations abuse our broken tax system and the risks they are taking in the use of offshore tax havens. We must stand up for American workers, end incentives for big corporations to offshore jobs, and unrig our broken corporate tax code. Sunlight is the best disinfectant – shining a light on this issue is the first step,” said Senator Van Hollen . “As everyday families struggle to find jobs and pay for basic necessities, corporations are dodging taxes by shifting profits outside the country and making the rest of us pay. I’m proud to support this legislation that will require companies to disclose foreign operations, and ensure corporations pay into the system here at home,” said Rep . Pettersen . “The Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act will increase transparency, and make corporations start paying their fair share.” In addition to Senators Welch and Van Hollen, the legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL). While President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act established a new global tax framework, it also introduced incentives for large U.S. companies to shift profits and jobs overseas. The so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ largely preserved those incentives. New research shows that last year alone, large corporations reduced their tax liability by more than $11 billion via tax havens. Firms continue to benefit from shifting profits because they can pool income and foreign taxes across affiliates in both high- and low-tax countries, while foreign income remains subject to a significantly lower U.S. tax rate than domestic income. The Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act would ensure greater transparency in these tax practices by requiring large corporations to disclose basic information on each of their subsidiaries, and country-by-country financial information that sums together all of their subsidiaries in each country – including profits, taxes, employees, and tangible assets. Thus, when a corporation sends jobs overseas, a country-by-country financial report would show the extent to which the U.S. tax system is rewarding their behavior. This Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act is supported by the Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, Public Citizen, Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Learn more about the Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act. Read and download the full text of the bill. ###