April 6, 2016 11:45 AM | Permalink | 
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Contact: Jenice R. Robinson, 202.299.1066 x 29, Jenice@ctj.org
Pfizer Inversion Failure Is an Example of What Happens
When Elected Officials Stand up to Special Interests
Following is a statement by Robert McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, regarding Pfizer Corp.’s announcement that it will no longer seek to merge with Ireland-based Allergan, a move that for months has been widely derided as a scheme to avoid billions in U.S. taxes.
“Less than 30 hours after the Obama Administration announced regulations that put a damper on corporations’ incentives for “inverting” or claiming foreign citizenship, Pfizer’s board voted to abandon its planned merger with Ireland-based Allergan.
“The Obama Administration’s actions stopped Pfizer’s tax-dodging scheme in its tracks, at least for now, and demonstrate that our elected officials can and should put the needs of ordinary taxpayers above the will of corporate special interests and their wealthy allies.
“Pfizer officials claimed that their planned merger with Allergan and ostensible move to Ireland, a known tax haven, was purely a business decision that would benefit consumers as well as shareholders. But the truth is that only Pfizer executives and shareholders stood to financially and handsomely benefit from the inversion if the company could avoid paying taxes on the $200 billion in profits it has stashed offshore.
“The administration’s actions, while good and necessary, are a partial solution. Only Congress has the power to pass laws that will permanently close the egregious loopholes in our tax code that make it financially beneficial for bad corporate citizens to renounce their citizenship. Americans should send people to Congress who are willing to do so.”
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