Business for Shared Prosperity

By Martin Vaughan
Dow Jones, July 20, 2010

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) said he will attempt to add sanctions for banks judged to be helping U.S. customers evade taxes to a small business bill now pending in the Senate.

Levin said the anti-tax-evasion provision would raise money to help offset the cost of small business lending provisions, including aid to states to aid small businesses that can’t get loans because the value of their collateral has dropped.

He spoke during a Tuesday conference call to announce the formation of a coalition of small businesses that support legislation targeting tax avoidance by large corporations.

The proposal that Levin wants to add to the small business bill would give the Treasury Department authority to prohibit transactions with foreign banks found to be “impeding U.S. tax enforcement.” It was part of a broader tax haven- related bill Levin introduced last year.

The small business bill has been stalled in the Senate as Democrats seek the support of one or more Republicans to unblock it.

The tax haven coalition is not just focused on tax evasion, but also on closing loopholes that, members of the coalition say, large corporations exploit to lower their U.S. tax burden.

“It’s time for tax laws that tilt the economic playing field further towards multinational businesses to end,” said Debra Ruh, chief executive of TecAccess, a Rockville, Va., firm that helps companies become more accessible to employees and potential customers with disabilities.

The group released a report claiming that U.S. companies use tax havens to avoid $37 billion per year in taxes.

-By Martin Vaughan, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9244; martin.vaughan@dowjones.com

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