Stuart S. Malawer, FEDERAL REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)

The need to reform the global taxation of U.S. multinationals corporations by the I.R.S. is obvious. The need to repatriate overseas earnings and put them to use in the U.S. to create jobs is long overdue.

Most trading countries have a territorial tax system. The U.S. needs to adjust its global system so we can become more competitive and alleviate excessive tax avoidance. If done properly this will help immensely in job creation by unlocking hundreds of millions of retained earnings in overseas funds held by multinationals in unproductive accounts.

The importance of international corporate tax reform is often illustrated by the failure of our multinational firms, especially high-tech ones relying upon intangible transactions involving patent and licensing fees, from paying corporate taxes due to their global transactions being routed through multiple tax havens.

This and related tax issues such as transfer-pricing, tax havens, bank secrecy, foreign source income, worldwide tax system really need to be debated during this presidential election season.