The big problem is really the changes made to the US tax code during the Clinton era and continued by Bush and Obama. In particular, the ability of US companies to defer taxation on profits made abroad until they are repatriated. Effectively, these profits sit in limbo since they aren&#x27;t taxable by the country in which they are &#x27;made&#x27; (e.g Ireland) because they belong to a US company. Companies then apply pressure on politicians to announce tax amnesties that enable them to repatriate the profits with negligible tax.<p>Blaming all of the above on other countries by casting them as tax havens is a complete charade. The US could fix this problem today on its own if it wanted to.
It just needs to get its house in order and e.g. get rid of the deferral rules. The best article I&#x27;ve read on the subject was here: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rollingstone.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-biggest-tax-scam-ever-20140827" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rollingstone.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;news&#x2F;the-biggest-tax-sc...</a><p>Edit: Another good article on this is here: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irisheconomy.ie&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;22&#x2F;upsetting-the-applecart&#x2F;#more-18193" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irisheconomy.ie&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;2016&#x2F;01&#x2F;22&#x2F;upsetting-th...</a><p>It&#x27;s a little bit more technical as it&#x27;s written by an Irish economist for an audience of economists, but it&#x27;s interesting in that it gives a good overview of the situation from an Irish perspective.