Burger King joining Milan in tax avoidance strategy 

Burger King has decided to have it their way, by buying Canadian doughnut and coffee chain Tim Horton and then technically becoming a “foreign company,” thereby switching from the USA’s 35% corporate tax rate to Canada’s 15%.

The tactic is called inversion.

Firms don't move anywhere, except on paper.

While on paper the USA corporate tax rate is 35%, domestic firms average paying 12.6%. However, Burger King is paying 27%.

Other companies that have bought up a foreign business, mainly so they can claim to be doing business from the foreign country, are

Drug company Pfizer, looking to acquire British AstraZeneca, and the maker of Adderall, AbbVie, is seeking to buy Irish Shire. Chiquita banana is looking to merge with Irish Fyffes.

Pharmaceutical giant Milan, founded by West Virginia University’s late benefactor, Mylan Puskar, is on the same road.

But public pressure has unraveled at least one deal: Walgreens, the largest American drug store, decided not to go through with an inversion through buying Swiss Alliance Boots. It was the third major deal to collapse in recent months.

Ironically, the companies that pay the highest U.S. tax rates have been creating the most jobs.

To read the entire article, click on http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/08/25/3475124/burger-king-inversion/