Make corporate tax returns public

But corporations need not automatically enjoy the same rights as individuals. Their owners are shielded from liability, which is implicitly shifted to others, as recent events demonstrate. And the notion that corporate tax returns are too complex to be made public simply isn't credible. A trillion dollars later, Wall Street's "trust us, we understand this and you don't need to" approach doesn't pass the laugh test. Yes, complexity obscures understanding. But greater transparency and the analysis it fosters will help mitigate this problem. And the attitude of foreign investors toward the United States is critical. The governments of other developed nations face the same frustration as we do in regulating businesses about which they understand little. If the United States makes its corporate tax returns public, other nations are likely to follow suit.

Making corporate tax returns public would signal that we are serious about reform and would help rebuild worldwide confidence in American businesses and financial institutions. It would demonstrate that we're not simply trying to buy our way out of a crisis and return to a discredited status quo. At a minimum, Congress should not allow businesses to participate in taxpayer-funded bailouts unless we taxpayers can assess who we're signing up with. After all, Americans routinely provide copies of their federal tax returns to financial institutions before they give us money. Shouldn't entities looking for taxpayers' help do the same?

The writer was commissioner of internal revenue from 2003 to 2007.