April 12 & 13 are “Days of Action” to Protest Tax Fraud in the Construction Industry
Local carpenters are holding a meeting at the Carpenters Training Center to call attention to the growing problem of construction industry tax fraud.
Details of our events:
Bipartisan Educational Meeting with Lawmakers
Monroe
Training Center
361 Breaden Dr.
Monroe, OH 45050
Tuesday, April 12, 11am-1pm
Rossford
Training Center
9270 Bass Pro Blvd.
Rossford, OH 43460
Tuesday, April 12, 11am-1pm
Columbus
Training Center
1899 Arlingate Lane
Columbus, OH 43228
Wednesday, April 13, 11am-1pm
Richfield
Training Center
4100 Maple Dr.
Richfield, OH 44286
Wednesday, April 13, 11am-1pm
“It’s a question of fairness,” said Mike Kwiatkowski, Executive-Secretary Treasurer for Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters. “As taxpayers prepare to file their returns, we are standing up against unlawful practices that have been business-as-usual for too long in construction. As a result, taxpayers lose government services, and law-abiding businesses and their employees lose work to the cheaters.”
Tax fraud hurts everyone. Workers are paid off the books or intentionally misclassified as independent contractors by shady subcontractors and labor brokers who are hired by contractors to underbid law-abiding businesses. Fraud happens on all types of projects, including taxpayer-funded construction. Rampant cheating causes a massive loss of revenue and makes it difficult to fight COVID-19, repair roads, bridges and schools, care for veterans and shore up Medicare and Social Security.
According to a new study recently completed for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the construction industry tax fraud epidemic is costing U.S. taxpayers more than $8.4 billion a year. Some 1.3 to 2.16 million construction workers are paid off the books or misclassified as independent contractors when they are really employees.
In Ohio, the estimated loss is over a billion dollars annually in 2022 metrics. Ohio-based contractors like Lakeside Interiors turn away from bidding project where they see the rampant tax fraud model winning out the bid. This drives down competition and creates an unfair advantage for companies who cheat the rules.
“It affects us because there are projects we don’t even bid on anymore. If we know we’re bidding against a [tax fraud model] contractor, we know they’re going to be about 20% lower. Their costs are only about 40% lower, but their bids come out 20% lower. What they’re doing is putting that money in their pocket,” Lakeside Interior Contractors Safety Director Randy Hayes said about tax fraud.
“We just can’t compete, so we don’t even bid on it. What that does to the local economy, is that affects the police, fire, federal taxes – it affects the whole community. There isn’t someone that isn’t touched."
Scores of Days of Action events are being held throughout the U.S. and Canada from April 11-17. Visit StopTaxFraud.net/StandUp for more information.
About Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters: Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC) represents over 35,000 men and women tradespeople in 40 locals in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and parts of West Virginia and Tennessee. A proud affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which has a century-plus tradition of representing the best of building trades.
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Hannah Erwin
Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC
+1 614-400-1057
herwin@ikorcc.com
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