Pharma deals with taxes and working overseas

In a recent blog post at the Wall Street Journal Health Blog, they look at what different Pharma companies are facing when they go abroad to conduct business.

The dispute has to do with something called “earnings stripping,” in which a multinational company reduces its taxes by claiming interest deductions for payments to a related overseas unit. The company claims deductions on its U.S. tax return, but no money ultimately leaves the parent company’s coffers, and publicly reported profit doesn’t change. The WSJ explains the nitty gritty. Glaxo didn’t comment, but in court filings has said the payments were properly classified as tax-deductible interest.

Read the full article here.