Caterpillar Accused of Demoting Executive Discovering $2 Billion Tax Dodge

[Roland99]

Source: Bloomberg

Caterpillar Inc. used offshore subsidiaries in Switzerland and Bermuda to avoid about $2 billion in U.S. taxes from 2000 to 2009, boosting its earnings through a “tax and financial statement fraud,” according to a Caterpillar executive’s lawsuit.

The company, the world’s largest construction-equipment maker, sold and shipped spare parts globally from an Illinois warehouse while improperly attributing at least $5.6 billion of profits from those sales to a unit in Geneva, according to the suit filed by Daniel J. Schlicksup. He was a global tax strategy manager for Caterpillar from 2005 to 2008.

Schlicksup, 49, sued in U.S. District Court in Peoria, Illinois, in 2009, claiming he was moved to a job that limits his career opportunities because he complained to superiors that the “Swiss Structure” ran afoul of U.S. tax rules. He’s seeking a court order to give him back his old job and prevent any retaliation. He also seeks stock options that he claims were wrongly withheld as well as legal fees and punitive damages.

His lawsuit, which calls the structure a “tax dodge,” followed a request for job protection he filed with the U.S. Department of Labor under provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, court records show. The law bars retaliation against corporate whistleblowers. Schlicksup declined to comment for this story. His attorney, Dan O’Day, declined to say whether Schlicksup has taken his concerns to the Internal Revenue Service.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-08/caterpillar-accused-of-demoting-tax-whistleblower.html

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If corporations are "persons" then they damn well shouldn't get benefits that we individuals don't get!

[SpiralHawk]

1. Demotion for honesty = Republicon Family Cesspool Values

as usual

[WhiteTara]

2. Glad to see Schicksup is fighting back.

He should be awarded the Medal of Freedom fo rhis courage. May Caterpillar go down with all the other bastards who are stealing from us left and right.

[plumbob]

5. Best wishes for him, and he needs to stay off small planes.

Seriously. And he doesn't need to be alone or out of touch.

[trusty elf]

3. Corporate Responsibility

[SpiralHawk]

6. Republicons think this kind of 'corporare welfare' (R) is cool

Shirk taxes and responsibility -- the epitome of modern-day republiconism

[QED]

7. Orrin Hatch thinks the poor should pay more taxes...

So what? Corporations can pay little or none and continue to ship jobs overseas?

[SpiralHawk]

10. Hatch is an embodiment of the degenerate level of modern Republiconism

Somewhere - hearing this Republicon screw-the-poor while enriching-the-rich crap - the Good Lord is blowing chunks. Republicon degenerate ideas are positively anti-christian.

[trusty elf]

4. deleted

dupe

[TxVietVet]

8. Ah, the conservanazi's tax avoidance scam unravels.

Nothing like avoiding taxes while using the US Chamber of Commerce forcing the US government to promote your products as "American". F*cking crooks.

[harun]

9. I would like to know why a whistle blower was even needed. Shouldn't this show

up on the IRS's radar?

[Vinca]

11. You'd think the first rule among crooks would be keep the people

who've got the goods on you happy.

[Beavker]

12. Not Surprised, CAT is a Teabagger Co. big time

Always arguing for the use of Chinese steel to build their products. Otherwise, they could NOT be competative. Flipping the bird to US Steel.

CAT sucks.

[butterfly77]

14. Obama went to one of their plants..

when he was first elected then caterpillar fired thousands of workers the next week..

[efhmc]

16. Sad. I think of it in the days when my father was in

construction and it was a very reputable company.

[madokie]

20. I remember operating a few cat 7's and 8's

Good tough machines but uncomfortable for the operator. Hopefully over the years they've corrected that.

[madrchsod]

13. they were bitch`n about paying illinois`s new state tax rate for the next two years

while they were dodging 2 billion. no wonder they backed off on moving from illinois. they owe us taxpayers in illinois a shit load of money. what`s 5% of 2 billion dollars?

[radhika]

15. Every corporation would have done the same....

This is Career Track 101. Under capitalism, under monarchy, under feudal lords, under elected governments. D

on't mess with profits. You will not Pass Go. You get moved to Storage Room B

[Javaman]

17. This just in...

whistle blower gets thrown in jail. Justice dept bows down before corporate masters.

in other news, man bites dog, dog pee's on his head.

[Kingofalldems]

18. Kick this and rec big time

[Hubert Flottz]

19. The Caterpillar dealer her at Belle WV was the place where Bush

had his big political photo ops when he campaigned here during his term as dictator. That Cat dealer was also making a killing off of mountain top removal strip mining.

President Bush Visits Cat Distributor in WV

http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/President-Bush-Visits-Cat-Distributor-in-WV/1856/


Bush visits East Peoria, touts free trade at Caterpillar

http://www.herald-review.com/news/local/article_3bb90aab-977d-53d2-bd99-f22f388a0cb6.html

Bush prolly told Cat it was okay to cheat on their taxes in return for a nice chunk of campaign cash or a secret donation to the BushCo library in Texas.?

[nineteen50]

21. Tax Dodge

And they will say they need no regulation they will regulate
themselves.

[Qutzupalotl]

22. Then they're unpatriotic subversives who don't support the troops or the country.

And they can suck on that.

[lurch2]

23. Seems to me...

some people are piling on CAT a little early. The "whistle blower" may just be looking for a payday. My father worked for CAT for 39 years and has nothing but good things to say about how they treat employees. I think I'll wait and see if the accusations hold water.

[Strelnikov_]

24. I treat my employee's well. Does that mean I can stop paying taxes? n/t

[high density]

25. I'm sure that extra $2 billion was funneled back into the USA for new jobs

I mean, after all, that is the rationale from the Republicans behind these desires for tax holidays and even more tax cuts. Caterpillar was just getting ahead of the game by a few years!

[DBoon]

26. Sadly, he will likely never have another job in his profession

Whistle-blowers, especially ones at higher corporate levels, become unemployable

Placing the law ahead of corporate profits is unacceptable in America today