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Column in Fortune by Scott Klinger and Clark Gascoigne.

America is the world’s newest tax haven.

If I asked you to name the world’s biggest tax haven, you might come up with the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, or Luxembourg. Those of you following the recent series of so-called “corporate tax inversions” might guess Ireland.

You probably wouldn’t think of the United States, but the latest edition of Bloomberg Businessweek points its finger squarely at Uncle Sam—and not without reason.

Indeed, the U.S. has passed the Caymans, Luxembourg, and Singapore on the list of the world’s leading secrecy jurisdictions, according to the Financial Secrecy Index, compiled by the Tax Justice Network. America now ranks third in the world, behind only Switzerland and Hong Kong, on the list of nation’s that promote and profit from secret accounts used by drug dealers, arms traders, tax evaders, and even terrorists to hide their money.

There is a sad irony here.

The United States has led the way in confronting other tax haven nations, by insisting that foreign countries that protect illicit assets with harmful secrecy laws share information with the U.S. Government on American citizens’ foreign assets. But when it comes to reciprocating by sharing information on the assets held in the U.S. by foreign nationals, the Obama Administration has been dragging its feet.

The U.S. signed a few reciprocity agreements with a small number of mostly rich, Western European countries, but the poorest countries in the world—where tax dodging has the biggest impact on the lives of people—have been left out in the cold. Even the few reciprocity agreements that exist with the U.S. can be skirted by opening bank accounts in the name of an anonymous shell company instead of the actual person.

Read the full column >>

We wanted to share some recent updates on our work over the last few months:

34,000 Press Congress on Corporate Tax Loopholes

More than 34,000 Fair Share supporters like you have petitioned Congress to end tax breaks for corporate executives, as part of Fair Share’s national effort to close corporate tax loopholes and make the nation’s largest companies pay their fair share of taxes, just like small- and mid-sized businesses do.

For several years now, Fair Share members have been calling on Congress to close a variety of corporate tax loopholes, including loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas, loopholes that allow companies to move their profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes, and even loopholes that allow companies—on paper—to move their headquarters overseas, a sham that will cost us $17 billion in lost revenue over the next 10 years.

“Small businesses don’t play these tax shell games to dodge taxes—they are paying what they owe,” said Nathan Proctor, national campaign director. “Everyone should play by the same rules. We need laws that will close the loopholes that let these big companies avoid paying their taxes so we can invest in an economy that works for everyone.”

Take action to end anonymous shell companies, which some companies use to hide unsavory behaviors like tax dodging.

We asked Fair Share members to share their stories about why hunger programs work—and they responded. Some of the stories were published in Community Voices: Why Nutrition Assistance Matters, a booklet that was distributed to every member of Congress as part of a special lobby day.

One Fair Share member who came to Washington to share her story was Sherry Brennan, now a senior vice president of Fox Cable, who told members of Congress, “I’m currently a senior vice president in Fox’s television networks group, and I’ve paid more in taxes over the past 25 years than my entire family received in government assistance, not to mention donating privately to families in need and charitable organizations. We needed the proverbial leg up. We used it, and today, my brothers and I are all fully-employed taxpayers who support ourselves and our families.”

Fair Share Education Fund’s updated report, Childhood Hunger in America’s Suburbs: The Changing Geography of Poverty, is changing the way Americans think about poverty. The main finding from the report, co-authored by Frontier Group, is that, contrary to our stereotypes about childhood hunger and where it exists, the risk of childhood hunger is growing much more quickly in the suburbs than in cities or rural areas.

The report was released in five states that are important to our campaign to end childhood hunger. Three news conferences were held simultaneously—in Phoenix, Ariz., Aurora, Colo., and Richmond, Va. We attracted the attention of four TV stations, four newspapers and three radio stations. Highlights of our coverage included full-length articles in the Arizona Republic and Richmond Times-Dispatch, which are the two largest-circulation newspapers in those two states. We also received coverage on Colorado Public Radio, and on NPR affiliates in Richmond and in Tempe, Ariz. Finally, our Arizona organizer, Chris Destiche, was interviewed in studio on KAET-TV in Phoenix, the local PBS affiliate.

On the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Colorado Fair Share served notice that it will not stand idly by while some attack our right to vote and access to the ballot. Colorado Fair Share joined U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette at a news conference marking the important anniversary and demanding that the Voting Rights Act be fully restored.

Joining Rep. DeGette and Colorado Fair Share were a number of allied groups, including CoPIRG.

“Even in the age of Citizens United and Super PACs, the most powerful political tool anyone has is their vote,” said Rep. DeGette. “50 years ago, the Voting Rights Act ensured that every American of every race, color and creed could exercise that right. I am working in Congress to put a stop to efforts that are undoing the 50 years of progress that the Voting Rights Act delivered, and I call on my colleagues and on all Americans to stand up and speak out for our right to vote.”

Why would Congress want to make loopholes that let companies hide their profits overseas permanent --- loopholes that cost us $10 billion per year?

Help us remove tax loopholes from Congress’ holiday shopping list. Fair Share and our allies have just launched a petition which reads:

We, the undersigned, urge Congress to end the loopholes that reward offshore tax haven abuse and reject any attempt to cement them permanently into our already loophole-ridden tax code. Please vote to end the two offshore loopholes in the tax extender package, the CFC Look-through Rule and the Active Financing Exception, which cost us $10 billion per year.

To add you name, click here.

Loopholes that let corporations hide money in offshore tax havens are set to expire. Some lawmakers want to keep the loopholes open – and keep them open permanently.

Tax loopholes allow corporations to dodge taxes by hiding profits overseas in places like the Cayman Islands – some very profitable companies pay $0 in taxes. As these loopholes come up for consideration, Congress is faced with a $10 billion choice: Let the corporate tax loopholes expire so multinationals will pay their fair share, or keep them open for multinationals to exploit year after year.

Congress must deal with a package of tax credits, due to expire at the end of this year. Hidden among the tax credits are some of the worst loopholes that reward multinational corporations for moving profits and jobs overseas.

Why not take this chance to ditch some of the worst programs that enable tax dodging? Instead, backed by corporate lobbyists, there is a proposal to make these offshore loopholes permanent.

It’s about time that these corporations start living by the same rules as the rest of us. It’s time to close these loopholes.

Join us by adding your name to our petition.

You might have thought it was bad enough that some U.S. multinational corporations are dodging $600 billion in taxes by hiding their profits overseas.

Now some in Congress want to let these corporate tax dodgers off the hook -- permanently -- for $400 billion and make it easier for them to avoid paying what they should moving forward. That's not fair to you, me or other businesses.

Add your name to our petition. It reads:

Every company should play by the same rules, but we know that some companies hide their profits offshore to avoid taxes -- taxes every other business has to pay.

You should require these companies to pay what they owe, and reject any policy that rewards companies for exploiting these loopholes to avoid paying their fair share.

One of the most outrageous parts of this plan is that 65% of this tax giveaway is going to just 30 companies. So 30 companies get a huge reward, and the rest of us pick up the tab.

Republican leaders in the House have pledged to get this deal done in the next month. [1] And they have an ally in Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY), the #2 Democrat in the Senate who is working to create a plan in tandem with Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.). [2]

It won't be easy but I know we can stop this reckless scheme. If no one speaks up and calls this legislation exactly what it is -- huge giveaway to a few powerful corporations -- Congress could sneak this through. But if we raise the alarm, and raise important questions about just what this policy does we can put this proposal on ice.

Add your name, and help us fight back.

1. The Hill. "McCarthy vows to pass six-year highway bill." Sept. 29, 2015.
2. Politico. "Schumer in talks with Ryan on major tax, infrastructure deal." Sept. 29, 2015.

"Eighty percent of a child's brain is developed by age 3, and kids born into punishing environments, who aren't talked to and read to, are 18 months behind their peers by age 4," wrote Daily Beast reporter Eleanor Clift. [1]

There's a need across the country for better access to quality education: Sign the petition to help give every kid a strong start.

We believe every child deserves a fair chance in life, and this begins with quality, early education.

That's why we are pushing for legislation that would give every 4-year-old in America the opportunity to attend preschool.

Congress currently is considering the Strong Start for America's Children Act. This bipartisan bill is a 10-year initiative to improve education for children from birth through their fifth year.

The bill would create a new federal-state formula for grants to fund the expansion of preschool for lower-income 4-year-olds. States would funnel the new money down to various entities, ranging from school districts and charter schools to child care centers and Head Start programs that demonstrate they meet high quality standards.

Stand with us: Sign the petition to your legislators.

Children who attend preschool not only do better in school as they grow older -- they're also more likely to go to college and get a good job. Yet barely half of all our 3- and 4-year-olds attend preschool. For the other half, preschool is either too expensive, too far away or both. That's not only wrong; it's shortsighted.

Every kid deserves a fair chance in life, and education is the best investment we can make in a stronger, more prosperous America.

[1] Clift, Eleanor, Can This Save Early Childhood Education?, The Daily Beast, July 25, 2015.