Companies awarded tax holidays in 2004 for bringing profits back to the U.S. ended up cutting jobs rather than creating them, according to a report from the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released Monday night.
The report found that the 15 companies which repatriated the most of their earnings cut a net 20,931 jobs between 2004 and 2007.
Another repatriation tax holiday proposed last week by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., would lower the tax rate on profits returning to the U.S. by as much as 5.25 percent.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee that released the report, warned that such a policy would fail to create the jobs it promises.
“There is no evidence that the previous repatriation tax giveaway put Americans to work, and substantial evidence that it instead grew executive paychecks, propped up stock prices, and drew more money and jobs offshore,” Levin said.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., joined Levin in sending a letter to the super committee urging that the repatriation tax holiday not be included in its proposals.
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