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It is becoming increasingly difficult not to see how the complexity of the tax code is adversely affecting tax collection. Most taxpayers find it difficult to understand taxes and use the help of tax preparers to prepare their tax returns. Because of the complexity of the tax code, many businesses find loopholes in the tax…

After the Apple controversy came to public view many of the methods multi-national companies use to evade taxes legally began to be scrutinized. Profit shifting is one of those methods. Apple has said it does not shift profits from the U.S. to other countries, but stated it did not bring the profits it made in…

Tax evasion is one of the biggest challenges the government faces today. The recent controversy over large multi-nationals using complex tax strategies to avoid paying high U.S. corporate taxes made headlines and began serious discussions on the effectiveness of the current tax laws.There is a consensus on the need to remove complexity from the tax…

The Fair Tax, as its name suggests, aims to make the tax system fairer through various strategies, including shifting tax charges from income to expenditures. The bill that was proposed by Congress looks to broaden the tax base, reduce government spending, eliminate the IRS, reduce tax evasion, and give more power to taxpayers in controlling…

It is understandable why everyone is complaining about the length and complexity of the tax code, but how to simplify the tax code does not have an easy answer. The newest suggestion to simplify the tax code and generate greater revenue has come from Congress. They propose the Fair Tax, a tax system based on…

Consumption tax is the tax charged on the consumption of goods and services, whereas income tax is tax charged on income. Both consumption tax and income tax have their advantages and disadvantages, but income tax has been given preference over consumption tax by most world economies.There has been much debate over the complexity of the…

It is becoming tougher for U.S. taxpayers to hide income in offshore bank accounts. The U.S. has been making agreements with various governments to encourage transparency of the financial transactions of U.S. taxpayers overseas.Tax evasion by using offshore bank accounts, especially in tax havens, is rampant. To counter tax evasion, the U.S. government has been…

Investigations into Apple Inc’s tax strategy reveal how the multi-national giant evaded taxes in the U.S. by creating an Irish subsidiary. Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, paid close to no taxes in Ireland while making billions in profit. It is believed the Irish subsidiary of Apple has no employees.Shifting income to low-tax countries…

U.S. multi-national companies are being investigated to ensure they are complying with the U.S. tax code. During a U.S. Senate investigation of Apple Inc., it was found the company used subsidiaries in Ireland to pay a much lower corporate tax rate and minimize its tax liability in the U.S.Although Ireland denies it gave special privileges…

Questions about Apple’s tax activities led to the discovery that the company used shell companies based in Ireland to keep a large part of its profits in Ireland in order to evade taxes in the U.S.Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who was attending an EU summit on tax evasion said, “Ireland’s corporate tax rate is…