A Discussion of Corporate Tax Evasion and Legal and Ethical Research Paper

A Discussion of Corporate Tax Evasion and Legal and Ethical Considerations - Research Paper Example Firstly,understanding the means by which the tax base exists and funds public goods that benefit each and every citizen is a starting point upon which the reader should consider. Firstly, these tax dollars are ultimately not sent into oblivion to fund pork only pork barrel spending projects that many of the news outlets would have the citizen believe; rather, they are utilized as a means to provide highways, schools, equip law enforcement and firefighters, and provide for the national security of the nation. In such a way, the reader can seek to understand the severe implications of seeking to deprive the system of these funds and the way that it is ultimately reflected back into the community or region in which the corporate entity operates, draws from the labor pool, and provides for the education that it relies upon to recruit talented individuals. Whereas tax evasion is most commonly thought of on a personal basis, the fact of the matter is that personal tax evasion pales in comp arison to the untold millions, billions, even possibly trillions of dollars that go unaccounted for due to intricate accounting mechanisms, offshore accounts, and outright dishonesty with regards to the level of profits that many firms are willing to admit to the government. Although it is not the purpose of this research to identify the core level and underlying reason why this practice is so often engaged and to such a degree, it does not require a great deal of research or analytical thinking to categorize the answer to such a question within the framework of the rational actor approach.Within such a framework, the self interest of profit maximalization and/or greed comes to be seen as the main reason why such a practice is engaged with. (Slemrod 880). One of the most famous and primary ways that corporations seek to shirk their tax burden and responsibility is by utilizing offshore tax havens to hide and/or minimalize their profits (Martinez-Vazquez & Rider 56). This serves two functions. The first is of course to reduce the overall tax burden that will be affected for the fiscal year; whereas the second is to outright hide millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars outside of the purview of the tax system (Tzur 58). Such an approach is utilized by a great many corporate entities within the United States due to the fact that it is not expressly illegal to utilize tax havens as a means of minimizing the total amount of taxes paid. Such a level of tax dodging has meant that firms such as Google and Pfizer have been able to dodge billions in tax bills within just a few years