白宮稅收新政引發跨國公司衆怒

A White House tax crackdown yesterday provoked fury from multinationals as it looked likely to put a halt to Pfizer’s planned $160bn takeover of Allergan, which would let one of the largest US companies move overseas.

白宮出爐的稅收打擊政策昨日激起跨國公司的憤怒。目前看來，這項政策很有可能阻止輝瑞(Pfizer) 1600億美元收購艾爾健(Allergan)的計劃，這筆交易本來將讓美國最大的公司之一遷至海外。

BArack Obama stepped up the offensive, championing new proposals to deter “inversion” deals that companies use to move to low-tax jurisdictions, accusing them of exploiting “one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there”.

巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)加緊攻勢，爲新提案叫好，該提案旨在嚇阻企業爲了遷至低稅負司法管轄區而進行“稅收倒置”交易。他指責企業利用“最陰損的稅收漏洞之一”。

Multinationals responded by saying they were being unfairly caught in the crossfire of Mr Obama’s campaign as their operations in the US could also be affected by the new rules.

跨國公司迴應稱，他們正被不公平地捲入奧巴馬的宣傳造勢，淪爲其靶子，因爲他們在美國的業務也可能受到新規則影響。

The angry rhetoric came a day after the Treasury released proposals which threatened the biggest planned inversion to date — Pfizer’s takeover of Irish-domiciled Allergan — and triggered big losses for some hedge funds, such as Paulson & Co and Third Point. “It came as a total surprise. Everyone thought the Treasury had used all their firepower,” said another hedge fund manager.

出現這些憤怒言辭的一天前，美國財政部發布的提案對計劃中的迄今最大稅收倒置交易——輝瑞收購在愛爾蘭註冊的艾爾健——構成威脅，進而導致保爾森公司(Paulson & Co)和第三點(Third Point)等對衝基金遭受嚴重損失。“這件事來得太突然了。大家都以爲財政部已經耗盡了所有火力，”另一家對衝基金的經理表示。

Politicians have been riled by a defining trend of the recent M&A boom that has seen dozens of US companies using inversions to escape the high US corporate tax rate.

美國政界人士對近期併購熱潮的一個標誌性趨勢感到憤怒，其中有數十家美國公司利用稅收倒置交易逃避美國較高的企業稅率。

The latest Treasury moves would make inversions less lucrative by eliminating a tax benefit for “abusive” inverters. But its plan would also deny the benefit to foreign companies with US operations. “Rather than using a scalpel to deal with this issue they are using a machete,” said Nancy McLernon, president of the Organisation for International Investment, a trade group for foreign companies in the US. “It’s a misguided approach. They’re trying to go after those companies that are doing something they think is problematic and carelessly hitting a whole class of employers.”

財政部的最新舉措將消除“濫用”倒置交易方的稅收優惠，使稅收倒置交易不那麼有利可圖。但是該部的計劃也將使在美國開展業務的外資企業得不到這項優惠。“他們不用手術刀解決這個問題，而是使用一把砍刀，”代表在美經營外企的行業團體“國際投資組織”(Organization For International Investment)的總裁南希•麥克萊諾恩(Nancy McLernon)表示。“這是一種誤入歧途的做法。他們試圖打擊那些他們認爲行爲有問題的公司，卻輕率地打擊了一大批僱主。”

The tax benefit stems from companies’ use of internal loans to cut their tax bills. By loading up US subsidiaries with debt from head office, foreign companies can deduct the interest payments from their US tax bills — a practice called earnings stripping.

這項稅收優惠源於企業利用內部貸款降低其稅單。通過讓美國子公司背上借自總部的債務，外國公司可從他們的美國稅單扣除利息款項；這種做法被稱爲盈利剝離。

But Ms McLernon said the proposal would penalise foreign companies with long histories in the US that use legitimate intra-company loans to pay for investments in facilities and equipment.

但麥克萊諾恩表示，財政部的提案將懲罰長期在美經營的外資企業，這些企業利用正當的公司內部貸款爲設施和設備投資買單。

Her group’s members include Nestlé, Royal Dutch Shell, BASF, Airbus, Nissan, Unilever, Deutsche Telekom, Tate & Lyle and other big multinationals.

她所在的行業團體的成員包括雀巢(Nestlé)、荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)、巴斯夫(BASF)、空客(Airbus)、日產(Nissan)、聯合利華(Unilever)、德國電信(Deutsche Telekom)、泰萊(Tate & Lyle)等大型跨國公司。

Analysts warned that this looked likely to scupper the second biggest M&A deal of all time. “This regulation was designed to kill Pfizer-Allergan,” said one big fund manager. Pfizer stood to escape US taxes on more than $128bn of profits stored abroad.

分析師們警告稱，美國財政部此舉看上去很可能破壞史上第二大併購交易。“這項法規的目的是要阻止輝瑞-艾爾健交易，”一隻大基金的經理表示。輝瑞在海外囤積的逾1280億美元利潤本來有望逃避美國稅收。