Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska says he wants to close offshore tax loopholes to make the federal tax code fairer for small businesses, and raise as much as $200 billion as the foundation for a balanced deficit-reduction package.

Begich is co-sponsoring the Levin-Whitehouse-Begich-Shaheen Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, which would provide about $220 billion in additional revenue over a decade, according to estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation, by ending a series of tax advantages uncovered in a decade of work by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but without a level playing field, large multinational corporations are given a leg up by circumventing the system and avoiding taxes,” Begich said Sept. 26.