--- description: President Obama called out companies that move abroad for lower tax rates. title: Obama: Companies Are 'Gaming the System' With Offshore Tax Havens image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4809a7ba695141d/69888dd2f887dc3be9e9556c/obama-tax-diversions-loopholes-middle-class.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama: Companies Are 'Gaming the System' With Offshore Tax Havens by [Halima Abdullah and Associated Press / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Halima Abdullah and Associated Press / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2016 5:37 PM CUT  President Barack Obama delivers a statement on economy at the James Brady Press Briefing of the White House April 5, 2016 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama delivers a statement on economy at the James Brady Press Briefing of the White House April 5, 2016 in Washington, DC.Alex Wong/Getty Images by [Halima Abdullah and Associated Press / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Halima Abdullah and Associated Press / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2016 5:37 PM CUT President Obama on Tuesday criticized loopholes that help protect offshore tax havens and U.S. companies that move abroad for lower tax rates. “A lot of these loopholes come at the expense of middle-class families,” Obama said during the White House press briefing adding that such companies are “gaming the system.” The president’s comments come on the heels of the Treasury Department’s new package of rules aimed at making “tax inversions” — when U.S. companies move abroad for lower tax rates — less financially appealing. The new regulations, the third round that Treasury has put forward on inversions, seek to limit internal corporate… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/treasury-looks-companies-lowering-tax-rates-moving-abroad-n550936?cid=par-time%5F20160405 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4282489/obama-tax-loopholes-criticism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4282489/obama-tax-loopholes-criticism/"},"headline":"Obama: Companies Are 'Gaming the System' With Offshore Tax Havens","datePublished":"2016-04-05T17:37:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:28:41.249Z","description":"\"A lot of these loopholes come at the expense of middle-class families\"","url":"https://time.com/4282489/obama-tax-loopholes-criticism/","keywords":["Economy","White House","Taxes","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4809a7ba695141d/69888dd2f887dc3be9e9556c/obama-tax-diversions-loopholes-middle-class.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Halima Abdullah and Associated Press / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4809a7ba695141d/69888dd2f887dc3be9e9556c/obama-tax-diversions-loopholes-middle-class.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Delivers Statement On The Economy","caption":"President Barack Obama delivers a statement on economy at the James Brady Press Briefing of the White House April 5, 2016 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Alex Wong/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4282489/obama-tax-loopholes-criticism/","name":"Obama: Companies Are 'Gaming the System' With Offshore Tax Havens"}}]}] ```