Anti-poverty charity Oxfam America claims that United States corporations have hidden $1.3 trillion in tax havens. Among the businesses named are Apple, Microsoft, and General Electric.
According to The Guardian, the charity named 50 of the biggest businesses in the United States in their claim. The report also singled out British overseas territories such as Bermuda for their popularity with U.S. firms wanting to evade tax and profit-shifting.
Aside from Apple, Microsoft, and General Electric, Walmart was also named. Reports say that these companies receive trillions of dollars in taxpayer support but still evade tax, The Huffington Post reported.
The new reports come amid the Panama Papers scandal involving aides close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Iceland, relatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping, soccer superstar Lionel Messi and many more.
Oxfam added in their claim that the sum of hidden money by the alleged U.S. corporations is much larger than the economic output of Russia, South Korea, and Spain. The report of the charity entitled "Broken at the Top" also said that the latest supposed findings are illustration of the massive systematic abuse of the global tax system.
The league table presented by Oxfam showed that Apple, the world's second biggest company, topped it. Accoridngly, the company has around $181 billion held offshore using three subsidiaries. General Electric, on the other hand, is the second company in the table as it reportedly has $119 billion stored in 118 tax haven subsidiaries. Microsoft placed third with $108 billion. Other companies named in the top 10 are Pfizer, Google's parent company, Alphabet, and Exxon Mobil, The Daily Mail reported.
The use of tax haven reportedly allowed the named U.S. firms to reduce their effective tax rate from 2008 to 2014. Oxfam noted that for every $1 spent on lobbying, the 50 companies received $130 in tax breaks and more than $4,000 in federal loans, loan guarantees, and bailouts.
Robbie Silverman, a senior tax adviser of Oxfam, called on governments across the globe to come together to end the era of tax havens.
