Cross posted from CWA's Resistance Growing blog:
During last night’s presidential debate, President Obama said he’s working to kill the tax breaks that are encouraging corporations to move good American jobs abroad. Mitt Romney retorted that the president was talking nonsense. Who is right? Let’s go to the tape:
OBAMA: ... I also want to close those loopholes that are giving incentives for companies that are shipping jobs overseas. I want to provide tax breaks for companies that are investing here in the United States
ROMNEY: … you said you get a deduction for taking a plant overseas. Look, I've been in business for 25 years. I have no idea what you're talking about. I maybe need to get a new accountant. But -- but the idea that you get a break for shipping jobs overseas is simply not the case.
Obama wins this round.
Romney’s recently released tax returns made it clear that he and his accountant are quite familiar with navigating the tax code. Romney should know that the law currently allows a company that closes its American plant and moves manufacturing operations overseas to deduct that moving expense.
The New York Times says, “It is true.” Reuters writes that there really are “deductions allowed for a company if it closes its plant in the United States and moves it to another country.” The conservative Boston Herald declared it a “huge gaffe.” Even Fox News’s fact check admits, “Technically, companies can claim a deduction for the costs associated with moving jobs overseas.”
In fact, Senate Republicans recently blocked a Democratic bill that would have provided a tax credit to companies that move jobs back to the United States and ended a tax break for companies moving operations overseas.