UnAmerican; Tax wars.(America's corporate tax rows)(tax reform likely to discourage US companies from moving offshore)(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, May, 2002

The American taxman creates a storm

A DISCREET change of address, from gritty New Britain, Connecticut to the posher environs of Bermuda and Barbados: that is all Stanley Works, a well-known American tool maker, hoped for when it tried earlier this month to move its legal domicile to a milder tax climate. Now, after one botched shareholder vote on the question, the company will try again, even though it plans only a token presence in the islands. Congressmen have kicked up a fuss, calling the company "unpatriotic". Yet the bigger problem may be the rift between America's free-trade rhetoric and its tax laws.

America's taxmen put on imperial airs. They tax American companies--and citizens--on their worldwide income: profits from Big Macs cooked in...

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