Corporate Tax Holiday Could Put $1.2 Trillion in Shareholders' Pockets
March 23, 2011 at 06:00 AM EDT
Lawmakers in Washington are mulling a one-time corporate tax holiday on foreign earnings that could provide a bonanza to many U.S. multinational corporations. If enacted, the holiday would allow U.S. corporations to bring home $1.2 trillion in profits they have stashed overseas at a much lower rate - about 5% as compared to the usual 35%. Many large multinationals, particularly those in the health and tech sectors, say the tax holiday would be the equivalent of a "free" stimulus package: the government would recover tax revenue while the companies would have more money to invest in job creation, factories, equipment, and research and development. Of course, corporations fed most of the booty from a 2004 tax holiday back to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks. But that's not what the multinationals want Washington to hear. They've formed a coalition to lobby the job creation/investment angle on Capitol Hill while using the weak economy as an ally.