Today, U.S. Senators. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have banded together to put the spotlight on giant multi-national corporations who use loopholes and other gimmicks to avoid taxes and shelter profits overseas.

As part of a global effort to crack down on corporate tax avoidance, the Treasury Department and IRS proposed a new rule that would require these multi-national corporations to privately disclose country-by-country financial details.

But Sens. Franken and Whitehouse say that that proposal can be strengthened. In a letter sent today, the Senators called on the federal agency to publicly require country-by-country financial reporting, a move that would give the American public more information about corporate tax dodging strategies.

"We believe multi-national corporations should not be allowed to use tax loopholes and other gimmicks to avoid paying their fair share of taxes," wrote the Senators. "Unfortunately, in recent years, a number of multi-national corporations have found ways to pay little or no tax in the United States, despite having large operations and a significant portion of their customers in this country. We believe that public country-by-country reporting would be beneficial for policymakers and the public as they consider tax reform or other changes to our nation's tax policies."

Last year, countries representing all of the world's major economies agreed to require large corporations to report to tax authorities on their operations and taxes paid in each country, to better identify profit shifting. The countries, including the United States, are now in the process of implementing the agreement. Recent data suggests that large corporations may be sheltering trillions of dollars in countries where they have little or no actual operations. For example, in 2010, U.S. based corporations reported profits in Bermuda that were 15 times that country's Gross Domestic Product.  

Today's letter, which you can read a copy of by clicking here. The letter was also signed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).