Pfizer under investigation for an evasion of 1.2 billion, all with trips to the US and the Netherlands
As reported by Bloomberg , Pfizer is the subject of an investigation by the Italian authorities which claim that the company has evaded income taxes in Italy for at least 1.2 billion euros in profits by transferring money to units in other countries. A very widespread, indeed we could say common practice, among the multinationals that dominate the economy.
The Italian Guardia di Finanza argues that Pfizer's Italian branch, Pfizer Italia Srl based outside Rome, has transferred the excess capital to affiliates in the United States and the Netherlands to avoid tax on profits of 26%. We note that there is no need to send money to distant and exotic tax havens: just keep it in the EU and send it to the Netherlands, a country that is enriched by tax competition bordering on piracy.
The company's Italian subsidiary would send the capital to foreign affiliates linked to Pfizer Production LLC and Pfizer Manufacturing LLC based in Delaware. The investigation into the New York pharmaceutical giant began in February and covers the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The investigation by the Italian Guardia di Finanza does not necessarily mean that Pfizer has committed an offense. Once the investigation is complete, the results will be reviewed by the Revenue Agency, which has the power to assess potential fines and tax payments if it deems them justified.
"The Italian tax authorities routinely check and investigate Pfizer's taxes and Pfizer cooperates with such audits and investigations," company spokeswoman Pam Eisele said in an email response to questions. “Pfizer complies with the laws and tax requirements of Italy”. obviously everyone is innocent, even fiscally, until he is found guilty, or tax evader.
Pfizer shares fell briefly before regaining ground and climbing 1.3% at 3:51 pm Wednesday in New York.
According to the Guardia di Finanza, Pfizer would have decided not to distribute dividends during the investigation period, remunerating its shareholders through the repurchase of own shares. Another elegant way not to point out that even important profits were being produced and not to attract too much attention.
For heaven's sake, this announcement has absolutely fallen by chance with the change of government and the investigations come from the past, but it is still an important signal that is also given to EU countries that, until now, have taken advantage of a European tax legislation too loose becoming the "Cayman of the North Sea", ie the Netherlands. you cannot have a common capital market without similar fiscal rules. Otherwise we will always have companies such as multinationals, such as Stellantis-FIAT, or even large family companies, which will legitimately evade the tax authorities simply by transferring the profits to Dutch branches.
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The Pfizer article under investigation for an evasion of 1.2 billion, all with movements in the USA and Holland comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/pfizer-sotto-indagine-per-unevasione-dal-12-miliardi-il-tutto-con-spostamenti-in-usa-e-olanda/ on Thu, 27 Oct 2022 06:00:09 +0000.