According to the Financial Times (18 July), AbbVie defended plans to shift its tax residence to the UK after agreeing to buy Shire for £32bn and urged US politicians to consider comprehensive tax reform rather than trying to block American companies from moving offshore.
Richard Gonzalez, chief executive of the Chicago-based drugmaker, said the trend for US companies to use foreign acquisitions to pursue so-called ‘tax inversions’ was a symptom of wider problems in the US tax system.
‘At the moment we’re at a disadvantage to other [international] companies,’ he said, referring to the high US corporate tax rates levied on cash repatriated from overseas. ‘That is the important debate we should be having about inversions and the whole … US tax code.’
AbbVie on Friday won the recommendation of Shire’s board for its £52.48-a-share cash-and-stock offer for the UK-listed speciality pharmaceuticals company after a month-long pursuit.
In a letter to Congress on Tuesday, Jack Lew, US Treasury Secretary, urged lawmakers to act immediately to prevent more companies from pursuing tax inversions.
According to the Financial Times (18 July), AbbVie defended plans to shift its tax residence to the UK after agreeing to buy Shire for £32bn and urged US politicians to consider comprehensive tax reform rather than trying to block American companies from moving offshore.
Richard Gonzalez, chief executive of the Chicago-based drugmaker, said the trend for US companies to use foreign acquisitions to pursue so-called ‘tax inversions’ was a symptom of wider problems in the US tax system.
‘At the moment we’re at a disadvantage to other [international] companies,’ he said, referring to the high US corporate tax rates levied on cash repatriated from overseas. ‘That is the important debate we should be having about inversions and the whole … US tax code.’
AbbVie on Friday won the recommendation of Shire’s board for its £52.48-a-share cash-and-stock offer for the UK-listed speciality pharmaceuticals company after a month-long pursuit.
In a letter to Congress on Tuesday, Jack Lew, US Treasury Secretary, urged lawmakers to act immediately to prevent more companies from pursuing tax inversions.
