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Editorial Boards Nationwide: End the Inversion Craze

July 24, 2014

A recent wave of corporate inversions has caught the attention of editorial boards and columnists across the country (you can see a map of the editorials here). In May, Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Levin and other House Democrats introduced legislation – the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014 – to tighten rules on inversions, saving nearly $20 billion over 10 years, according to an estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation. There have been 47 inversions in the last decade alone, with a growing number in recent years, according to data from the Congressional Research Service.

CALIFORNIA

The CalifornianCompanies take US benefits, but flee US taxes: "Technically, merging and reincorporating abroad to avoid taxes is called an inversion. Bluntly, it's called a disgrace. U.S. companies should push for tax reform rather than departing on paper and handing their tax burden to American taxpayers."

Los Angeles TimesGive U.S. multinationals an incentive to not dodge taxes: "When is a U.S.-based company not considered a U.S. company by the IRS? When it buys a smaller firm in a foreign country and — presto chango! — deems that company to be its parent, escaping the obligation to pay taxes to the U.S. Treasury on its foreign earnings."

Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- Corporations flee U.S. taxes, keep benefits: "It's the corporate equivalent of renouncing your citizenship for tax purposes, except that there's no need to leave the country or give up any privileges."

FLORIDA

Tampa Bay TimesU.S. companies head overseas: "But when a company reincorporates, what it's really doing is shifting its corporate citizenship; and when a company shifts its corporate citizenship, what it's really doing is trying to pay less in taxes."

GEORGIA

The TelegraphCorporate tax code driving companies to renounce U.S. citizenship: "Just as our textile and electronic manufacturing businesses headed overseas in search of cheap labor, our, drug companies are lured by lower taxes."

INDIANA

Courier & Press EDITORIAL: Companies enjoy U.S. residence, but duck U.S. taxes

IOWA

The Des Moines Register -- Is it your way or the highway after Burger King's tax move?: "Members should pass legislation to stop corporations from effectively renouncing their U.S. citizenship to escape paying their fair share in this country. If there's one thing both parties should be able to agree on, it's the fact that this country cannot afford the loss of billions of dollars of tax revenue."

KENTUCKY

Harlan DailyWhy a Walgreens' boycott could be a wakeup call for Congress: "I have not seen "Born in the USA" boycott work in a long time, but Walgreens is different. It's not just about us against them; it's about something that is completely unfair and shines a light on what is really wrong with the United States tax system."

MARYLAND

The Baltimore Sun Stop inversions now: "If your roof starts leaking live a sieve, it's not only prudent to get a new roof but to install a short-term fix — buckets to catch the water, perhaps, or a tarp — before your house is ruined. So should it be with so-called tax inversions by U.S. corporations. The long-term answer may be tax reform, but right now the leaks have to be plugged."

MASSACHUSETTS

The Milford Daily News The unseemly practice of tax avoidance: "Drills made by Ingersoll Rand were used to carve Mount Rushmore, but the company has no patriotic commitment to paying its fair share in taxes despite having received federal contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars."

MINNESOTA

Twin Cities Pioneer PressMinnesota: Jobs, jobs, jobs vs. taxes, taxes, taxes: "Serious questions remain about such so-called "inversions," which are a legal, rational business response to irrational tax laws that have pushed U.S. corporate headquarters out of the U.S., leaving more of the tax burden to other businesses and individual taxpayers."

MISSOURI

Columbia Daily Tribune An offer they can't refuse: "He is at his desk. Facing him are members of his organization. Michael rises and dims the lights. He starts a PowerPoint display showing the various Mafia families. The chieftains and button men are puzzled, but they say nothing. Michael turns the lights back on. It is clear he is about to say something important. Michael: "We're gonna incorporate."

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Concord MonitorAttention Walgreens shoppers: "To prevent a rush to the border, we dearly hope Walgreens does the right thing and remains an American corporation. And if it doesn't, we expect regulators to strictly enforce laws that prevent foreign companies from spending to influence political decisions that should be made by Americans."

NEW YORK

Albany Times-Union -- A whopper of a tax dodge: "The loophole that allows American-bred corporations to move their headquarters abroad to hide profits from the IRS simply because they bought a foreign company must be closed."

New York TimesPfizer's Ploy and the Porous Tax Laws "But until Congress actually changes the law, inversions will continue, reducing revenues and undermining the whole notion of tax fairness."

OREGON

Eugene Register-Guard -- A disease called "inversion": "The inversion loophole stinks to the high heavens, and it deserves priority treatment from Congress at a time when U.S. businesses are scrambling to complete deals that qualify for tax inversion."

PENNSYLVANIA

The Pocono RecordThe latest tax dodger "Today, Walgreens has a total of 8,678 stores, in every state (including one in Stroudsburg) and U.S. territories. According to Forbes magazine, the company makes $2.5 billion in profit a year. But that's apparently not enough. CEO Gregory D. Wasson plans to move its corporate headquarters to Switzerland to merge with Europe-based Alliance Boots. Walgreens likes making money here, but Wasson aims to dodge U.S. taxes."

The Scranton Times-Tribune -- End corporate tax inversions: "Congress should preclude inversions now while launching an effort to reform the corporate tax code."

The Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMylan Inc. joins U.S. firms that incorporate elsewhere to cut their taxes: Its foreign reincorporation will cut its federal tax bill: "Prominent American companies such as Michael Kors and Garmin have already used them, with giants like Pfizer and Walgreen pursuing the strategy. Congress must act to correct this loophole in the tax code."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review -- Corporate tax inversions: Prevent more Mylans: "As U.S. corporations increasingly flee uncompetitive U.S. tax rates through deals that base them overseas, the Obama White House and some congressional Democrats propose banning such moves."

SOUTH CAROLINA

The Charleston Gazette Editorial: Sen. Manchin opposes his daughter's action: "It's galling when industries get rich in America, then create token headquarters in low-tax foreign places to escape their obligations to the land that made them wealthy. We hope Manchin and fellow Congress members can revise U.S. tax laws to prevent American firms from adopting foreign labels solely to avoid paying their fair share to support their homeland."

TEXAS

Metro West Daily NewsThe unseemly practice of tax avoidance: "Apologists for this corporate shell game say it's a maneuver forced on them by excessive corporate taxes in the United States. The U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent is one of the highest in the world, but most companies use various exemptions, shelters and accounting methods to pay far less than the full rate."

VERMONT

Stowe Reporter -- The inversion scare: "In America, the question of tax avoidance needs to be addressed by Congress and the administration immediately."

WISCONSIN

The Capital TimesPlain Talk: Corporations 'citizens'? Then act like it: "The latest American corporation that is considering moving its headquarters overseas so it can pay lower taxes on its profits is none other than drugstore giant Walgreens. It would be the latest in a line of U.S. companies that don't like to pay their fair share of taxes even though they owe much of their success to government programs and infrastructure that were provided by other American taxpayers over the years."

Kenosha NewsInversions should spark tax reform: "Companies should be lobbying for tax reform rather than creating paper transactions that shift their tax burdens to others. The shifting of the tax burden is no small matter."

Racine Journal Times -- Time to get right side up on corporate inversion: "It's a big-business practice called inversion. It can be summarized this way: American companies finding a way to avoid paying taxes as their American customers are legally obligated to do."

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Issues:Inversions