James P. Hoffa Quotes
Corporate tax dodging impacts us across generations and over time. It is corrosive. It is unethical. It is unsustainable.
Hoffa, James P. "Corporate Tax Dodging Impacts Us Across Generations." The Huffington Post, 16 Apr. 2015.
Tax breaks and deductions had become so prolific and complex that most of the larger corporations paid not only a smaller percentage of taxes than many small businesses, but also paid a smaller amount.
Two decades later, in 2011, the fact that the very wealthy often paid tax at a much lower rate than the middle class and even some working poor became a major political issue.
Throughout most of the world, the rich and the aristocrats have been able to reduce or eliminate their tax obligations with the burden falling more heavily on the common people. Progressive taxation was thought to be a solution, but even in the United States by the 21st century many huge corporations paid little or no taxes while there was a heavy tax burden on small companies. Rich people generally paid a smaller percentage of their income than middle class people.
Tax Evasion is a felony. Tax avoidance is using legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes. However, as Hightower points out, every time a wealthy individual or corporation legally avoids a tax, the burden to make up for the lost revenue falls on the Middle Class for whom there are few tax loopholes. Also, they cannot afford the high-priced lawyers and accountants to find the schemes to use.
James Phillip Hoffa is an American attorney and labor leader who is the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is the son of Jimmy Hoffa. James Hoffa was first elected in 1998, and subsequently re-elected in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016 to five-year terms. In 2018, Hoffa was elected chair of the Road Transport Section of the International Transport Workers' Federation at its quadrennial Congress in Singapore. Hoffa is the second-longest serving General President of the Teamsters Union, after Dan Tobin, who served from 1907 to 1952.
