Contractors Paid by Taxes, but Won't Pay Them

[Memekiller]

http://www.mercenaryscookbook.com/2008/05/11/paid-taxes-wont-pay-them/
May 11th, 2008 • No Comments
Contractors are raking in billions of U.S. tax dollars in Iraq, but when it comes to giving some of that lovin’ back to the sugar daddy who’s been so good to them, turn out to be total players:

Congress is finally moving to shut one of the more egregious forms of Iraq war profiteering: defense contractors using offshore shell companies to avoid paying their fair share of payroll taxes. The practice is widespread and Congressional investigators have been dispatched to one of the prime tax refuges, the Cayman Islands, to seek a firsthand estimate of how much the Treasury is being shorted.

You might not find it surprising that the center of the world’s booming private defense market happens to be the Caribbean. Who knew? The AP looks at one company in particular, Combat Support Associates, which although vital to our national security, and privy to top secret information about our strategy for fighting the War on Terror, houses its headquarters in the Cayman Islands:

Also, company officials maintain the subsidiary is outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, so federal labor rules and anti-discrimination laws don’t apply either.

In fact, there’s scant evidence that CSA Ltd. exists - at least physically. There’s no listed office address or phone number in the Cayman Islands. Records show the corporation is registered with Close Brothers, an investment house that serves as its shallow footprint in the Caymans.

Close Brothers operates out of a five-story, blue-windowed office building across the street from the docks used by cruise ships visiting this island paradise. There’s no sign of CSA Ltd., however. ”We can’t make any comments in regards to our clients,” Close Brothers director Roger Priaulx said by telephone.

The biggest offender? The one who has profited the most from no-bid contracts from the Federal government, KBR, formerly of Dick Cheney’s Haliburton. Somehow, I think Cheney would approve.

Responding to the problem, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Brad Ellsworth has introduced the Fair Share Act of 2008 (S.2775), which would increase accountability and transparency of our tax system by closing a tax loophole to prevent Federal contractors from using foreign affiliates or tax shelters to avoid paying payroll taxes (I have yet to find out where McCain stands on this bill).

Presumptive Dem. nominee Barack Obama has said the whole scheme “turns the idea of patriotism on it’s head.” Here’s Barack Obama’s statement.

[BeHereNow]

1. It is obscene.

And didn't happen without the consent of our congress piggies
while fattening themselves at the corporate feeding trough.

BHN