Citizen Action, others call for tax fairness
April 19, 2011 ·
On Monday, Tax Day, some West Virginians turned out to show their support for what they are calling “tax fairness.” A small group gathered in the state’s capital city to call for closing loopholes that allow some businesses to avoid paying taxes.
Members of West Virginia Citizen Action,
the Council of Churches, the AFL-CIO and others
gathered outside the Main Post Office in Charleston. They were there for an hour to point out that
83 of the 100 largest companies in America manage to avoid
paying an estimated $100 billion in taxes each year.
Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of West
Virginia Citizen Action, quoted a new report from the Public Interest Research
Group that says corporations are hiding their profits by setting up off-shore
“tax havens."
According to Zuckett, "This is costing us, the little guy, the little taxpayer, the small business in West Virginia, $188 per taxpayer, over $200 million this year."
Zuckett focused on companies like GE, that
paid no taxes last year. He, and others at the small rally, passed out
literature encouraging taxpayers to call on Congress to close the tax
loopholes.