Pfizer likely to avoid US$35b in tax through Allergan merger: tax fairness advocates

New York

PFIZER Inc will be able to permanently avoid paying US$35 billion in US taxes by merging with Allergan Plc, according to a report released on Thursday by a group that advocates for tax fairness - though a tax and accounting consultant called the num-ber "a little misleading".

Four Democratic members of Congress joined Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), which is affiliated with labour unions, in a news conference urging President Barack Obama's administration to use executive authority to deny US corporations tax benefits if they move their tax addresses overseas.