Obama pushes to stop corporate overseas tax moves
7/16/2014The Obama administration is urging Congress to act swiftly to curtail a growing trend in which U.S. corporations reorganize overseas with foreign entities in part to trim their taxes back home.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is telling both House and Senate leaders that Congress should immediately enact legislation retroactive to May that stops the practice known as an inversion.
The Congressional Research Service says 47 U.S.-based, multinational companies have combined with foreign businesses over the past decade in inversions, which can cost the federal government billions in tax revenue.
Democrats in both houses of Congress have proposed measures to curtail the practice.
Republicans say Congress should focus instead on reforms that make it more attractive for companies to stay within the U.S., not those that make it harder to leave.