Giving up its U.S. citizenship could save Pfizer $35 billion in taxes [Obama extortion by taxation]

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/02/25/giving-up-its-
u-s-citizenship-could-save-pfizer-35-billion-in-taxes/

When Pfizer announced its plan last year to merge with Botox-maker
Allergan and move its headquarters to Ireland the company said the deal
would lower its tax rate to about 17 percent to 18 percent, saving it
about $2 billion over three years.

But in a report published Thursday, Americans for Tax Fairness say the New
York-based pharma giant will actually save much more by giving up its U.S.
citizenship: $35 billion.

Pfizer is merging with the smaller Dublin-based Allergan in what is known
as an “inversion,” in which U.S. companies are bought by or merge with
foreign firms in order to reduce U.S. corporate tax burdens. The Pfizer-
Allergan deal is the largest inversion ever and has raised angst among
lawmakers.

In addition to lowering its effective tax rate from about 25 percent,
Americans for Tax Fairness notes that Pfizer will gain access to $148
billion in profits it earned overseas and currently can’t bring back to
the United States without taking a tax hit. Bringing the cash would have
cost the firm $35 billion, according to the left-leaning advocacy group.

“We believe the Treasury Department can challenge the theft of taxpayer
dollars that Pfizer is counting on under this deal,” said Frank Clemente,
executive director of the group.

Pfizer said in a statement that the merger “will create a global, R&D-
focused company with the ability to lead in the quest to find cures and
treatments for patients with the most feared diseases and conditions of
our time, such as Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease, cancer and rare
genetic disorders. This transaction is not structured to move jobs out of
the United States, where we conduct the majority of our research.”

Lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated by the flood of U.S.
companies moving overseas to lower their tax rate. Pfizer’s announcement
was followed by one from Johnson Controls, which said last month that it
would merge with Tyco and move its headquarters to Cork, Ireland. Johnson
Controls said the strategy would save the new company—with a market cap of
about $36 billion— about $150 million a year in taxes.


Earlier this week, two Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation meant to
attack one of the chief benefits of inversions, a practice known as
“earnings stripping.” In addition to lowering their tax rate, a company
involved in an inversion can often offset taxes with the interest from
debt payments made by its U.S. operations to its foreign parent company.

The legislation by Rep. Sander M. Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat
on the Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland,
the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, would make that maneuver more
difficult and less profitable.

Earnings stripping “enables them to significantly lower the amount of
taxes they pay in the U.S, while taking advantage of our country’s
resources and strong workforce,” said Levin.

The Treasury Department, which has said it reviewing the issue of earnings
stripping, “appreciates” the lawmakers leadership on the issue, an agency
spokesman said. “The administration will continue to explore ways to
address inversions — including potential guidance on earnings stripping —
but the only way to fully solve this problem is for Congress to enact
legislation that specifically addresses inversions,” he said.

When, or if, Congress will take up the issue is unclear. Most lawmakers
agree the country’s 35 percent corporate tax rate, the highest in the
developed world, should be lowered. But Democrats and Republicans remain
split on whether to take up the issue piecemeal or through wholesale
reform and there appears to be little political appetite for addressing
such a complex issue during a presidential election year.



--
Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $19 trillion in the six
years he has been in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America. The only American president to deliberately import a
lethal infectious disease from Africa, Ebola.

Loretta Fuddy, killed after she "verified" Obama's phony birth
certificate.

Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.

Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptitude.

Obama continues his muslim goal of disarming America while ObamaCare
increases insurance premiums 300% and leaves millions without health care.

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