Is tax reform really coming? Large U.S.-based companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Pfizer are holding more than $2 trillion in other countries because if they brought the money back to America, they would pay taxes on it. Changing the corporate tax rate so that they will spend that money here as one of Trump’s big campaign issues, and the reason he had the backing of billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
The pharmaceutical industry would be one of the big beneficiaries. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which made a habit of buying smaller firms and raising the prices of their products, did so in part by having a Barbados tax domicile. Big firms including Allergan, Mylan, and the medical device firm Medtronic all have headquarters out of the U.S., in order to get tax breaks. If Trump can get tax reform done, large U.S. drugmakers like Merck, Amgen, and Eli Lilly, could go on a buying spree, buying up smaller biotechnology companies.
Tax reform couldn’t happen before healthcare reform, because tax reform requires knowing what the U.S. budget looks like. With healthcare reform tabled, the GOP can move on. But do Trump and Ryan still have the political capital to get it done?
The pharmaceutical industry would be one of the big beneficiaries. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which made a habit of buying smaller firms and raising the prices of their products, did so in part by having a Barbados tax domicile. Big firms including Allergan, Mylan, and the medical device firm Medtronic all have headquarters out of the U.S., in order to get tax breaks. If Trump can get tax reform done, large U.S. drugmakers like Merck, Amgen, and Eli Lilly, could go on a buying spree, buying up smaller biotechnology companies.
Tax reform couldn’t happen before healthcare reform, because tax reform requires knowing what the U.S. budget looks like. With healthcare reform tabled, the GOP can move on. But do Trump and Ryan still have the political capital to get it done?