Pfizer's case highlights the lengths US firms will go to lower taxes

New York

LONG before Pfizer conceived of merging with Allergan in a US$150 billion deal to rid itself of what its chief executive called an "an uncompetitive tax rate" in the United States, the company was deploying various tax avoidance strategies dating back to at least 1976.

That's when Pfizer, with the help of lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry, sought to take advantage of an unusual tax credit programme that legislators in Washington passed to help spur investment in Puerto Rico.