Obama's Inversion Crackdown Draws Backlash
On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a new plan aimed at stopping corporate inversions — the practice of a relocating official business headquarters overseas to avoid American taxes.
Yesterday, President Obama urged Congress to approve the crackdown, calling inversions one of the most "insidious tax loopholes out there." His comments drew ire from some members of Congress and from foreign companies also pushed back, saying that the new rules will make it more difficult to invest in the U.S.
The new rules also thwarted a $1.5 billion inversion merger between U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc and Ireland-based Allergan, the maker of Botox and other drugs. The merger would have been the largest of its kind.
Stephen Myrow, a former official with the U.S. Treasury and a managing partner at Beacon Policy Advisors, has the details.
