To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Stop Monsanto from dodging taxes

No company should be rewarded on its tax bill for fleeing America. I urge you to pass the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2015 now, before Monsanto joins the list of companies renouncing their U.S. headquarters.

Why is this important?

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto.

The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a Swiss agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a Swiss company for tax purposes.

If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in Switzerland, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company.

It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2)

We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share?

We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3)

1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV
2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq
3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp