PolitiFact: Democrats Are Recycling False Accusation That Republicans Support Tax Breaks for Companies That Ship Jobs Overseas

PolitiFact: Democrats Are Recycling False Accusation That Republicans Support Tax Breaks for Companies That Ship Jobs Overseas

By Paul Caron

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PolitiFact.com, Is There a Corporate Tax Break That Ships Jobs Overseas?:

Democrats and their advocates have washed, rinsed and are now repeating one of their favorite talking points from 2012: that "(Insert Republican Here) supports tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas."

There’s a lot packed into this insult. It implies that the person on the receiving end is beholden to corporate interests, against sensible tax reform and unconcerned about American employment. It plays to Americans’ economic woes and fits into the recent discussions about corporate tax reform, following Burger King’s merger with a Canadian company.

Only a CPA might enjoy digging into the nuances of tax policy. But our search for evidence shows that the Democrats’ description is so simplistic as to be misleading. There is no special tax break for outsourcing. ...

There is no tax break or loophole that addresses outsourcing or insourcing jobs specifically. When Democrats say "tax breaks" in these ads, they are usually talking about standard business expense deductions. Companies can write off many business-related expenses as tax-deductible -- including relocation. But this isn’t a special provision just for businesses that move outside of the United States. A business would get the same deductions for money spent moving from New York to California.

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/09/politifact-democrats-are-recycling-false-accusation-.html