CHEAT SHEET
TOP 10 RIGHT NOW
Watch your bank accounts, expats. On Monday Obama announced a plan to crack down on off-shore tax avoidance—when multinationals, wealthy individuals, or U.S.-based businesses park their earnings in foreign tax havens. It’s estimated that more than $700 billion in U.S. corporate earnings are in such overseas havens. Obama is tightening the rules for offshore subsidiaries and making it harder for Americans to open offshore bank accounts. His plan, which will likely be very unpopular with big business, also curtails a practice called “deferral,” in which Americans who earn money overseas avoid taxes until that money is repatriated–a restructuring that, if enacted, will bring about $60.1 billion back to the United States through 2019.