Business for Shared Prosperity

New Campaign: Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse

End tax dodging and support a level playing field for business by enacting strong legislation to stop tax haven abuses. Offshore tax havens reward tax evaders, rob public coffers of needed revenue and offload taxes to responsible businesses and households. Everyone needs to pay their fair share to keep America moving forward. An estimated $100 billion or more in tax revenue is lost every year to tax havens. Our economic progress is undermined when companies are rewarded for financial manipulation rather than innovation and productive investment.

See the full Statement and Sign the petition.

Reverse Unaffordable Tax Breaks

Our nation is in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and we need to make long overdue investments in education, health, transportation, infrastructure and green energy systems. Join nearly 1,400 signers in telling Congress and President Obama we can't afford to wait to repeal Bush-era tax breaks for households with taxable incomes over $235,000. We can’t afford to lose $43 billion a year to invest in our country. Click here to Sign the Petition.

Ending unaffordable tax breaks will help move our nation toward economic stability and sensible investment for the long-term health of our economy.

During the presidential campaign, candidate Obama advocated repealing Bush-era tax breaks for households with Adjusted Gross Income of $250,000 (about $235,000 in taxable income) or more. This would affect a very small fraction of U.S. taxpayers -- about 2.5 percent. The top tier of taxpayers had years of debt-financed tax breaks while income inequality reached levels not seen since the eve of the Great Depression. Many high-income taxpayers are saying, “I will pay higher taxes to invest in my country.”

“The subjects of the state ought to contribute toward the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.” -Adam Smith

Tell President Obama and Congress we can't afford to wait to repeal Bush-era tax breaks. We can’t afford to wait to restore the top tax rate to the 39.6% rate in effect in 2000 and most of the 1990s -- a rate far lower than top tax rates from 1932 until 1987. Our country can’t afford to lose an estimated $43 billion in annual revenue.

Add your voice to the petition: We, the undersigned, call on Congress and President Obama to immediately reverse the Bush-era tax cuts for those of us with taxable incomes over $235,000. The increased revenue, an estimated $43 billion, should go toward making long overdue investments in education, health, transportation, infrastructure, and green energy systems.

Please sign the petition whether your household income is over or under $235,000. Click here to Sign the Petition.

The petition is sponsored by Wealth for the Common Good, in partnership with Business for Shared Prosperity, Bolder Giving, Resource Generation and Responsible Wealth.

Fair Taxes Program

Business for Shared Prosperity organizes business support for fair, responsible taxation and urgent public investment at the state and national level. Bold, smart public investment is vital in transforming our energy system and reenergizing our economy with clean technology and green jobs. Scaled up public investments are essential in modernizing our deficient infrastructure and public services, and fostering the education and research undergirding innovation, productivity and progress. Existing tax policies have encouraged speculation, contributed to an un-level playing field between different states and businesses, and shifted the tax burden off wealthy taxpayers and global corporations and onto small businesses, wage earners and the next generation.