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The administration has been urging lawmakers to stem a wave
of corporate deals known as inversions, in which a U.S. company
shifts its tax home base to a lower-tax country by combining
with a company based in that country. Popular destinations are
Ireland and the Netherlands.
While some Democratic lawmakers are clamoring for anti-inversion
legislation, Republicans have set a higher hurdle by saying the
issue should only be addressed through comprehensive tax reform.
The Treasury Department said legislation was the only way to
fully address the matter but that it was studying the
possibilities of a partial fix.
"Treasury is reviewing a broad range of authorities for possible
administrative actions that could limit the ability of companies
to engage in inversions, as well as approaches that could
meaningfully reduce the tax benefits after inversions take
place," a Treasury representative said in an email.
The representative added that there were limits to what Treasury
can do without action by Congress and that "legislation is the
only way to fully address inversions."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has publicly questioned the
patriotism of companies that engage in tax inversion deals.
"We are looking at a very long list of possible ways to address
the issue,” he said in an interview with the New York Times on
Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, UK-based Sky News cited sources saying that
U.S. retailer Walgreen Co was backing away from a plan to
reincorporate abroad to reduce its U.S. taxes even as it planned
to buy the 55 percent it does not already own of European
drugstore chain Alliance Boots.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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Treasury
weighing actions to stem tax avoidance
