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Senator Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat,
said he wants to make it harder for U.S. companies to move their
headquarters abroad to lower their taxes for inversion deals
that take place on or after May 8, 2014.
"I don't approach retroactivity in legislation lightly, but
corporations must understand that they won't profit from
abandoning the U.S.," Wyden said in a Wall Street Journal
editorial posted online late Thursday.
Wyden said he wants to increase to 50 percent from 20 percent
the amount of stock a foreign company must own in a U.S. company
for an inversion deal to legally take place.
Additionally, Wyden called for comprehensive tax reform as a way
to make the U.S. more business friendly.
"I'm committed to making this happen and including changes in
the inversion rules as part of a tax overhaul," Wyden said.
Earlier on Thursday, Democratic Senator Carl Levin, a long-time
advocate for closing corporate tax loopholes, said he is also
talking with senators about potential legislation.
"It's become increasingly clear that a loophole in our tax laws
allowing these inversions threatens to devastate federal tax
receipts. We have to close that loophole," said Levin in a
statement.
Levin is the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, which has held hearings to shed light on U.S.
companies' legal efforts to avoid U.S. taxes.
A recent bid from drug-maker Pfizer Inc to acquire AstraZeneca
Plc, renewed attention on corporate inversions. The potential
deal would allow U.S.-based Pfizer to re-domicile in Britain to
take advantage of a significantly lower corporate tax rate
there.
In April, days after the potential Pfizer deal was made public,
the Obama administration said it was seeking ways to curb
inversions.
(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West; Editing by Chris Reese and
Tom Brown)
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