Many companies featured on Money advertise with us. Opinions are our own, but compensation and
in-depth research may determine where and how companies appear. Learn more about how we make money.

Money is not a client of any investment adviser featured on this page. The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Money does not offer advisory services.

Last night the Comedy Central dream team of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert each took a moment on their respective shows to attack the growing number of American corporations moving their official addresses abroad to escape U.S. taxes.

The specific kind of tax flight the duo is talking about is known as an inversion, and these maneuvers have become all the rage in recent months. As Money's Pat Regnier explains, an inversion is when a U.S. company merges with a (typically smaller) foreign company in tax-friendly country. The U.S. company then claims it is now based in the foreign company's nation and thus avoids paying U.S. taxes while continuing to enjoy many benefits of essentially remaining an American company.

"It's like me adopting an African child, and then claiming myself as his dependent," quipped Colbert.

This practice has been widely condemned as unpatriotic and unfair to American taxpayers who will be stuck footing the bill if the government needs to replace corporate tax dollars with new sources of revenue. The anti-inversion chorus has so far included public figures ranging from President Obama to entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who recently advised his Twitter followers to divest from inversion-happy corporations.

On Wednesday, Stewart and Colbert added their own two cents, with Colbert bringing on Fortune's Allan Sloan, author of a recent seminal article on inversions, to talk about the problem.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive