Senate Aims at Offshore Tax Evasion

Democrats Say Havens Syphon Off Hundreds of Billions in Revenue

By Mike Lillis 07/25/2008

Spurred by reports that abusive offshore tax havens are syphoning hundreds of billions of dollars in federal revenues, Congress's leading voices on tax policy called Thursday for tighter restrictions on companies and individuals doing business abroad.

The issue is of particular significance to Democratic leaders, who have accumulated a challenging legislative wish-list for next year -- much of which they hope to fund by closing the $345 billion tax gap. Experts warn, however, that a slew of hurdles stands in their way.