Why arent US taxpayers livid??? This hurts us all... http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-pfizer-s-greatest-thing-since-viagra-ditching-u-s/article_dff3a071-280c-5a1c-a2f9-0f194cc50aa2.html
What's to be livid about? A corporation LEGALLY avoiding higher taxes? Giving more value to the shareholders? It may come as a surprise, but the govt. is not entitled to every dollar in circulation.
From a business perspective quite brilliant perhaps. Whats incredibly sad are two things: 1. The loss of once truly great American company to foreign soil (I said once not now, its a cess pool being ruled by non-American far left wingers). 2. There will be incredible job loss in the USA from this. Read is already negotiating limiting job loss overseas. Whose back will that further break? Uncle Sam's. This company just can't stay on a straight and narrow and get back to organic growth. Revenues have been falling short for how many years now? Keep re-engineering and keep social engineering yourself into the annals of failure. How far we have fallen, gag.
yeah, done legally through a seriously flawed tax code. Morally flawed and wrong thing to do. Will become the poster child for greedy pigs who got fat on government programs and then ran for the doors to save a buck. As a shareholder my vote would be to pay the taxes and lobby for reform instead of sending the money to the UK... I call BS on the whole thing, another desperate move to keep the margins up by a failing company.
JOBS IN THE US ARE ALREADY BEING CUT AT A RIDICULOS RATE! PFIZER LAYS OFF EMPLOYEES EVERY 2 WEEKS. DON'T BELIEVE IT? WAIT TIL IT'S YOUR TURN. AND IT WILL BE- IT'S A NUMBERS GAME AT THIS POINT.
Just a thought - a reasonable, non-emotional one: Perhaps if the U.S. lowered corporate rates, companies would move here. We have low "country risk", so a lowered rate would keep what we have and entice others to relocate or come back here. I love how govt. folks and even big businesses are all in favor of globalism when it comes to gaining billions of customers, but somehow get upset when globalism affects them in terms of tax structure, such as this. Hypocrisy much?
I am livid about job loss in US. I am livid about the ta. I will have to pay on my "new Pfizer" UK based shares. And I am livid about the billions of tax PFE will not pay and I will have to pay -100$ just for 2014, like any US taxpayer - because spend will not go down. So yes I am livid.
I would suggest this wrath be directed at a government who refuses to lower the U.S. Corporate tax rate. Business 101 time - A corporation exists to make a profit (considering it's not a non-profit institution). Employees are an expense to a corporation. A corporation does not exist to employ people - it's a nice by-product. The Board has a duty, an obligation even, to maximize shareholder profit. In this case, by lowering taxes. PFE hasn't paid "billions" anyway, they've been parked offshore. As a U.S. citizen, I'm a little more miffed that we have to return to the country we revolted from in 1776 due to high taxes in order to get tax relief.
I swear you're all idiots. The official corporate tax rate in the US is 35% but the average tax rate of the 288 Fortune 500 companies is just 19%. Twenty-six of these corporations, including Boeing, General Electric, Priceline.com and Verizon, paid no federal income tax at all over the last five years. A third of them (93) paid an effective tax rate of less than 10%. Of those corporations with significant offshore profits, two thirds paid higher corporate tax rates to foreign governments where they operate than they paid in the U.S. on their U.S. profits. And you think we need to give all these greedy bastards tax relief????? What idiots you are.
Why tax them at all? The shareholders get taxed on dividends AFTER the company has akready paid. Tax the corp or tax the shareholder but it's extortion to tax the same income twice. That's why the prior poster -- and Pfizers motives- are spot on. Why should Pfizer or anyone pay more taxes ? So Washington, D.C. can waste it? Let Pfizer use the savings to research new drugs, and to keep And reinvest their own money. Forget the actual tax rate in USA . Add up the actual dollars it represents. Go look it up. You wanna cry about taxes..go complain about GE, but theyre a climate control friend if ibama so they get a pass right? Pfizer owes nothing to usa, nor is it an employment agency for Dem governors. Good for Pfizer. Serves Washington right for not pursuing biz friendly tax policy. Bye bye jobs.
I'm old enough to remember when Pfizer was an innovative drug company, not an inventive accounting concern. Big Blue has lost its focus.
The lack of financial knowledge on this board is staggering. First, I will reiterate-Pick up a business 101 book. In every General Business book known to man, somewhere in the discussion about corporations, the phrase "maximize shareholder wealth" or "maximize shareholder value" will be written. The Board of Directors of a corporation does not exist to prop up a Federal Leviathan. Secondly, "loopholes", as the left likes to use, is a misnomer. Politicians write tax code. If they are bought off to leave gaping holes that lawyers and accountants can drive a Mack truck through, the board of directors again has an obligation to take advantage of the law. Third, all of America, especially the corporations and those on the political left, espouse a view that globalism is wonderful. Well, a by-product of getting those Billion Indian customers and those billion Chinese customers and those hundreds of millions of European customers is that you also get to participate in their govt. economies. As a result, corporations can "park" profits earned in those locales offshore, further avoiding the Draconian U.S. corporate tax law. Finally, while not mentioned on this string, several others have called Pfizer "greedy". Let's see - spend a Billion dollars on getting a drug through the FDA, then manufacture, label, package and ship the drug to a customer, while still being on the hook if the FDA screwed up and patients have negative side effects. All of this requires employees, who are paid pretty handsomely, especially when benefits are considered. And, at the end, they make a profit, which they give a significant portion to the shareholders via dividends. Conversely, let's look at government and what they do to earn "revenue": write a bill. Pass it. Attend parties and go on TV. Which one seems greedy?
And with the added tax to shareholders, you bet this is exactly what Pfizer will become. If you thought pharma in the states was hated, this will triple the venom people, doctors, administrators, insurance companies and all those who stay and fight feel about what Pfizer is doing. Combined with the Sunshine Act, you will see more doors close to reps than ever. Pfizer is no longer the leader in innovative thinking but the leader in some of the worst business practices to ever be implemented in the pharmaceutical industry.
Nice Post. Amazing amount of whining about this deal but it is honest, transparent and reflects what will be a trend. We all have the right to pay the minimum tax required by law. Read 1040 tax instructions. Sorry if Pfizer was smarter than some of us but not really.
