U.S. companies looking for lower tax bills are heading for the exits, and Congress is doing nothing to stop them.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) is the latest corporation to consider reducing its tax bill by moving its legal address outside the U.S., proposing an acquisition of London-based AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) that would allow Pfizer to reincorporate in the U.K. while top executives remain in New York.
Pfizer would join at least 19 other companies making or contemplating similar transactions, including Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC), the largest U.S. advertising firm. A stalled proposal from President Barack Obama to limit such deals would raise $17 billion over a decade.
U.S. lawmakers have responded with little outrage and no plans for a quick law to limit the transactions, known as inversions. Instead, they cite the deals as fuel for a revamp of the tax code that’s probably years away. That inaction gives companies a window to look for offshore mergers.
“Members of Congress are not swayed as easily nowadays by all the rhetoric about corporate tax cheats and companies being traitors because they’re moving to Ireland,” said Herman Bouma, a Washington-based senior tax counsel at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. “There doesn’t seem to be that many members upset about the inversions happening. They’re more upset about the way their tax code is, that causes companies to want to do that.”
Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg
A Pfizer Inc. office in Berlin.
Corporate Tax
These transactions have become attractive in part because of the increasing disparity in countries’ marginal corporate income tax rates, which are typically higher than what companies actually pay.
Ireland, which will be the new home address for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Chiquita, the banana distributor, has a 12.5 percent rate. The U.K.’s rate is 21 percent and will decline to 20 percent next year, with no tax on active businesses outside the country.
In addition, the U.K. offers a 10 percent rate on profits attributable to U.K. patents, which is attractive to companies such as Pfizer, the largest U.S.-based drug company and maker of Advil and Viagra.
In contrast, the top U.S. corporate rate is 35 percent. Companies also must pay U.S. taxes when they repatriate foreign profits, after receiving credits for foreign taxes.
Tax Disparities