Why Can't the USA Refuse to do Business with Tax Dodgers?

  It has been pointed out, in response to US Uncut and other protest movements, that Bank of America, GE and other companies that paid no tax last year have a duty their shareholders to maximize profits.  That's true. 

  A corporation can be sued by its shareholders for taking action contrary to maximization of the share price. A company's managers and board of directors have a fiduciary duty to run the company for the benefit of shareholders.  Large pension funds, which have huge sums invested in certain companies, occasionally sue when a company is guilty of mismanagement. These are huge class action lawsuits. There are also derivative lawsuits that can be brought under state law on behalf of the company.
  A company that fails to utilize offshore tax havens theoretically might have some exposure to these kinds of shareholder lawsuits, although I have never heard of one.

  The argument about liability for failure to avoid taxes is probably an academic argument.  That doesn't change the fact that various people have been defending GE by saying it has a duty to avoid taxes and the right to make money by cutting its tax bill legally.
  I'm OK with that to a point - perhaps the USA can't prosecute GE for tax evasion, but do we have to keep doing business with them? Why can't we have a policy of not doing business with any company that in our opinion is using an offshore tax haven to avoid paying taxes?
  You wanna get a government contract, agree not to engage in certain legal tax avoidance strategies. I think that's fair. It should've been in the fine print of the TARP bailout paperwork too: you can have emergency loan money, but no avoiding taxes for the next 5 years.
  What would be the best decision for the profitability of the company then? Give up a large military contract just to avoid taxes?  I think they'd pay up.
  Finally, we can no longer let the pro-business crowd get away with saying that, on the one hand, corporations have the right to avoid taxes and maximize profit, and in the next sentence, feed us this line about how corporations are creating all the jobs.  Creating jobs during a recession means losing money, so those two statements are inconsistent.
  If you are telling me that corporations have the duty to maximize income, you have to admit that they frequently accomplish that feat by moving American jobs offshore where labor is cheaper, and in general doing everything they can to cut jobs and pay out less to employees in wages and benefits. Do you know your enemy?

  If you're waiting on big business to solve unemployment, you're crazy.  They're not interested.  They will take your tax savings and give it away as bonus money. Government must create jobs by spending on local projects - even better, by hiring people directly. 

silly government can't build anything right