Yes you are right, taxing global companies effectively would help greatly. There seems to be no will (in the West at least) to do anything about it though.
Closing loopholes is a problem and it just becomes a war of attrition with accountants and lawyers. Maybe there does need to be the global coordinated effort on tax reform that is the typical excuse for why nothing is ever changed.
I can see why punitive action against foreign corporations could be seen as the easier option.
> Closing loopholes is a problem and it just becomes a war of attrition with accountants and lawyers.
I think that's unfortunately true, but there must be a point of diminishing returns. Close enough loopholes (intentional loopholes or otherwise) and companies end up spending more money on tax lawyers than the value of the actual tax break. Even if some companies are able to use some loopholes, closing many of them still means more tax revenue for states. We don't need to get to a "perfect" state here.
Closing loopholes is a problem and it just becomes a war of attrition with accountants and lawyers. Maybe there does need to be the global coordinated effort on tax reform that is the typical excuse for why nothing is ever changed.
I can see why punitive action against foreign corporations could be seen as the easier option.