Democrats Take Dead Aim at Tax Inversions

The democrat lead U.S. Senate has been making a lot of noise lately regarding tax inversions, the practice of U.S. companies moving their corporate headquarters overseas in order to avoid the high price of overbearing U.S. corporate taxes.

Those senators have apparently made good on a recent promise that they would look to put a stop to such deals. According to reports, Senate democrats have introduced a proposal that would make inversions less attractive to U.S. companies. One of the provisions they have added is to eliminate the practice of earnings stripping. This practice allows American companies to borrow from parent companies overseas while still being able to deduct the interest expense on their stateside taxes.

The proposal would no longer allow U.S. companies to have 1.5 times as much debt as equity while deducting all allowable interest costs. The proposal is expected to be part of an even larger far-reaching bill that could be introduced later this year. However, the Republican-lead congress is said to be cautious about passing such a proposal for fear it could make U.S. companies more susceptible to foreign takeover attempts.

Whatever happens, it’s obvious that the practice of tax inversions is going to continue to be a “hot-button” issue amongst U.S. lawmakers and large corporations alike. Do you have questions about tax inversions or other international tax-related issues? Then give us a call at 1-877-CPA-2006 or click here to contact us online.