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ICYMI — American Journal News: Sununu Opposed Crackdowns on Corporate Tax Shelters
In Case You Missed It, new reporting from American Journal News highlights how “Republican John Sununu voted to let big corporations take advantage of tax shelters and then went to work for companies that profited from it.”
While in office, Sununu opposed bills “that would have blocked corporations shifting profits overseas from receiving Homeland Security contracts”; “would have forced these corporations to move profits stateside or face steep penalties”; and “would have strengthened penalties for tax-shelter violations, created new transparency rules for corporations that use tax shelters, and given the IRS new enforcement tools to crack down on the practice.” After losing reelection, Sununu “failed to” disclose his corporate board seat at a company that he “owned 30,000 shares of” and was “incorporated in the Cayman Islands [...] easily the most notorious corporate tax haven on Earth.”
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American Journal News: Sununu opposed crackdowns on corporate tax shelters
- Republican John Sununu voted to let big corporations take advantage of tax shelters and then went to work for companies that profited from it.
- Sununu represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House from 1997 to 2003 and the Senate from 2003 to 2009. He is attempting a comeback to the Senate this year.
- Tax shelters are financial arrangements that allow companies and individuals to reduce their tax bill. Some of these arrangements were created by Congress and are considered legitimate, while others are considered abusive and akin to tax evasion.
- Examples of abusive tax shelters include shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, like Bermuda, or orchestrating financial deals that show tax losses on paper that don’t exist in reality.
- In 2002, Sununu opposed two bills: one that would have blocked corporations shifting profits overseas from receiving Homeland Security contracts and another that would have forced these corporations to move profits stateside or face steep penalties.
- Sununu’s opposition to the latter effort prompted Massachusetts Rep. Richie Neal to accuse him of prioritizing businesses in Bermuda over those in New Hampshire.
- In 2004, Sununu was one of only five senators to oppose the JOBS Act, a sweeping tax bill that would have strengthened penalties for tax-shelter violations, created new transparency rules for corporations that use tax shelters, and given the IRS new enforcement tools to crack down on the practice.
- The bill did not become law, but the American Jobs Creation Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush later that year, included some watered-down versions of these provisions.
- Sununu has sat on multiple corporate boards since leaving the Senate. One of those companies was Afiniti, an artificial intelligence and software developer that is incorporated in Bermuda but has its primary office space in Washington, D.C.
- Earlier this year, Sununu was embroiled in a minor controversy when he failed to list his position on the corporate board of BlueRiver Acquisition on his personal finance disclosures. The company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in 2023, easily the most notorious corporate tax haven on Earth.
- Sununu’s campaign said he did not receive income from BlueRiver Acquisition or profit from holdings in the company. Despite this, BlueRiver Acquisition reported last year that Sununu owned 30,000 shares of its stock.
- Sununu’s Democratic opponent is Rep. Chris Pappas. A New York Times/Siena University poll from last month showed Pappas leading Sununu by five percentage points.
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