The reason why corporations incorporate offshore is not to "hide" things, it's because of taxes.
There is an article in today's IBD reporting that Stanley Toolworks is incorporating in Bermuda [same as Enron], because doing so will save them $30 million per year in taxes.
The democRATS are in a rage that "during this time of war, Stanley has chosen profit over patriotism"
IBD asked if they should stay so they could be "taxed at punitive rates so that [the Democrats] can hand out costly favors to their voters."
I may post the full editorial if I feel like keying it in...
The answer to a democrat is obviously, yes they should stay and pay punitive taxes!
Let's look at California, do the Democrats think that with high power rates, and likely higher taxes that Boeing isn't going to shift some production out of California to a state that provides a more favorable business climate. Boeing told the state of Washington to change. The democrats in charge of politics in Washington state told Boeing to shove it. Boeing is now headquartered in Chicago rather than in Seattle where it had been since its birth.
In explaining the move, Boeing stressed its obligations to its stockholders.
Yep, Stanley tools will incorporate whereever they need to.
In most cases, yes, that's true. (I agree that companies are outrageously taxed.) But in Enron's case, they used offshore accounts to hide the true nature of the company's financial status, to massage the bottom line. Sherryl Watkins
blew the whistle. It was time for show and tell - to answer questions. The Enron game was over.