Interesting article this afternoon on Bloomberg:  Everson Says Making Company Tax Returns Public "Merits Debate," by Ryan J. Donmoyer:

The U.S. Congress should consider forcing companies to make some or all of their tax returns public to reduce cheating, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said. Everson said companies use separate bookkeeping methods to report income to shareholders and the IRS, creating "tension" and opportunities for mischief such as the use of tax shelters. "Making corporate tax returns or a portion thereof public would likely improve compliance" with tax laws, Everson said in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington. "I believe this idea merits debate."

It was the first time the IRS has suggested forcing disclosure of corporate tax information. Any effort to force disclosure would be fought by companies that fear proprietary information would be compromised. By law, all individual and corporate tax returns are kept confidential; tax returns for non- profit agencies must be disclosed publicly.