From Pro Publica.   How the largest corporations avoid taxes.  Did you know Microsoft has a company in Puerto Rico worth tens of billions of dollars, but one that pays almost no taxes at all?  Not picking on MSFT, it seems everybody is doing it.  The path seems to go straight through campaign contributions to representatives.  Why should most people care?  Well, in the short term makes it harder for small business to compete and it raises the tax burden on the rest of society.  In the long term, it undermines democracy and fair and equal treatment, and leads us into a more corrupt society.

The IRS Decided to Get Tough Against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher.

For years, the company has moved billions in profits to Puerto Rico to avoid taxes. When the IRS pushed it to pay, Microsoft protested that the agency wasn’t being nice. Then it aggressively fought back in court, lobbied Congress and changed the law.