Congress: Don’t let rich people evade their taxes!

U.S. Congress

Tell your representative to oppose H.R. 2054/S. 869, which could make it easier for rich people to avoid paying their fair share in taxes by hiding their money overseas.

Here’s some background: Every year, our banks send a form to us and to the IRS detailing how much interest we earned on our accounts to make sure we report it. Until recently, foreign banks weren’t required to do that for their U.S. clients, but that all changed when someone blew the whistle in 2009. They pointed out 52,000 people hid more than $14 billion overseas — and that was just one bank! A year after the whistle blowing, U.S. citizens around the globe had to pay $10 billion in taxes, penalties and interest on previously hidden overseas money.

Now, H.R. 2054/S. 869 could reverse progress and make it easier once again for rich people to hide their money overseas. Currently, U.S. taxpayers lose as much as $70 billion every year because rich people avoid taxes illegally and don’t pay their fair share. How much is $70 billion? That’s what we spend on public education. It’s triple what we spend on roads and bridges and other transportation. With all that at stake, do we really want to make it even easier for rich people to avoid taxes?

We need you to tell your representative in Congress to oppose H.R. 2054/S. 869 and stand up for working people. Tell them we can’t afford to allow rich people to sit out while we pay more than our fair share.

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To: U.S. Congress
From: [Your Name]

As my elected official, you need to represent me and my neighbors, not bend to the will of wealthy special interests. I urge you to oppose H.R. 2054/S. 869, which would make it easier for rich people to hide their money overseas illegally and avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Our district relies on tax dollars to pay for quality public schools, infrastructure like safe roads and bridges, and other critical public goods and services. Our families and our communities can’t afford to allow rich people to hide billions of dollars overseas while we work hard and pay our fair share. Oppose H.R. 2054/S. 869 now!