If you are some corporate lawyer or finance guy who is looking to get ahead, the surest way to move up the food chain is to find a way to fleece the American taxpayer. Drumroll, please. The newest one is: corporate mergers to shift taxes overseas.

It’s the holy grail say the corporate tax geniuses:

Executives at a California chip maker, Applied Materials, highlighted a number of advantages in announcing a merger recently with a smaller Japanese rival, but an important one was barely mentioned: lower taxes.

The merged company will save millions of dollars a year by moving — not to one side of the Pacific or the other, but by reincorporating in the Netherlands.

From New York to Silicon Valley, more and more large American corporations are reducing their tax bill by buying a foreign company and effectively renouncing their United States citizenship.

“It’s almost like the holy grail,” said Andrew M. Short, a partner in the tax department of Paul Hastings, which advises a number of American corporations on deals. “We spend all of our time working for multinationals, thinking about how we’re going to expand their business internationally and keep the taxation of those activities offshore,” he added.

Just add that to the long list of the sloshing of money around the globe, all in the service of either looking for the lowest wages or avoid paying taxes. It’s really legalized organized crime.