“Positively Un-American (Tax Dodges)”

There is an article - Fortune magazine July 21, 2014 issue - that everyone needs to read:

http://fortune.com/2014/07/07/taxes-offshore-dodge/

The article explains the loathsome (but technically legal) practice known as “inversion.” It names some of the biggest offenders who use this technique to – in effect - shift their burden onto all other U.S. taxpayers. This practice is an ethical lowpoint in American business practices. You may be surprised by some of the companies who are revealed.

Is this just another issue where ethical businessmen and consumers have to “grin and bear it?” Or can we actually do something to right the scales of justice?

There IS something that procurement and supply management personnel CAN do:

• When sourcing a product or service, include in your Request for Information (RFI) a question about “where are you officially headquartered?” Be sure to confirm their response via an Internet search.
• In the same RFI, inquire about the potential supplier’s tax practices (i.e., “do you use inversion?”).
• Consider adding a supplier’s tax practices (e.g., inversion) to your evaluation criteria.
• Figure their after-tax income based on their actual tax-paying practices at their offshore HQ, and use this when modeling their cost structure (in preparation for setting negotiations objectives).
• Don’t be shy about negotiating hard with suppliers who lower their U.S. taxes via inversion. While they may not want to pay their fair share of U.S. taxes, the good news is that their practice just makes it easier for them to give you a great deal!

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