Quick note that H.R. 1834, the House bill which creates a round of repatriation this year, now has over 100 co-sponsors. ATR has urged that repatriation be part of any year-end tax deal.
The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world that taxes income earned overseas by her own taxpayers. The amount that must be paid to the IRS is the difference between the U.S. corporate income tax rate of 35% (tied for highest in the developed world), and the tax already paid overseas.
By temporarily reducing the tax on money brought home, this bill will bring back hundreds of billions of dollars that can be used to invest in America and hire American workers. The punitive repatriation tax incentivizes companies to keep earnings overseas. Today, $1.4 trillion is sitting in foreign bank accounts, effectively unable to come to the U.S. because of this anti-competitive tax treatment. Industry estimates calculate that alleviating this tax burden in 2012 will result in a capital inflow to the United States of at least $800 billion.