Big Pharma a Big Winner in Trump’s Proposed Tax Plan
Five Big Pharma Corporations Stand to Reap $42.7 Billion Tax Break for as a Reward for Hoarding Profits Abroad
Nov. 20 — UPDATE: The tax proposal supported by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans would give five top pharmaceutical corporations a $42.7 billion tax break, this report from Public Citizen and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reveals. Among pharmaceutical corporations, the greatest share of offshore profits and potential tax savings come from Pfizer, which holds an estimated $198.9 billion in profits in 157 offshore tax havens. The value of a tax holiday that lowers the corporations’ tax liability on offshore profits is an estimated $24.4 billion for Pfizer. The value of the tax cut for other Big Pharma corporations ranges from $7.8 billion for Gilead Sciences to $1.2 billion for Biogen Idec. The sum total of these five corporations’ tax cut on offshore profits under the Trump proposal is $42.7 billion.
Note: An earlier version of this report, released Nov. 3, 2017, used the House legislation’s original proposed tax rate of 12 percent and concluded the bill would provide the pharmaceutical corporations a $46.8 billion tax break. These updated numbers reflect the 14 percent rate passed in the House version on Nov. 16, 2017.