A Starbucks in Salem, Oregon, in October 2025. (Photo by Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
If you get your coffee at Starbucks, you may want to ask for extra sugar. That’s because recent news about the company’s tax avoidance schemes sure leaves a bitter taste.
The world’s largest coffee company has dodged about $1.3 billion in taxes over the past decade through the clever use of a subsidiary in Switzerland, according to a report released earlier this year. These tax shenanigans, the authors explain, deprive governments of “revenues to fund essential public services, including education, health care, infrastructure and support for vulnerable people and communities.” That may be especially true in the case of Oregon, which reportedly has more Starbucks stores per capita than any other state in the nation…