Boston-based comedian Jimmy Tingle once joked that he keeps an offshore account “on Nantucket.” But according to Picking Up the Tab, a new report by U.S. PIRG, the anti-tax tactic is no laughing matter, as “average citizens and small business pay the price for offshore tax havens.”
Since 2008, the report reads, “83 of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. corporations maintained revenues in offshore tax haven countries.” Tax haven abuse by both individuals ($60 billion) and corporations ($90 billion) costs “the United States approximately $150 billion in tax revenues each year.”
To make up for this lost $150 billion, the report continues, the average tax filer pays an additional $1,026—“enough money to feed a family of four for a month.”
