An Inquiry Continues, Some Revenue Booms
Wyden continues big pharma inquiry. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote a letter to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, seeking details on the company’s effective tax rate. In the letter, Wyden questions how available data shows Pfizer “paid effective tax rates of 25 percent and 22 percent [in 2014 and 2015] respectively, but paid a paltry rate of just 5.4 percent in 2019 and 2020.” The senator expressed a particular interest in the profit-shifting techniques Pfizer may be using to “avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on U.S. prescription drug sales.” The panel began investigating the tax practices of large pharmaceutical firms in 2021.
Also on Capitol Hill. The House Ways & Means Committee holds a hearing today on documents protected under Internal Revenue Code section 6103. The panel’s Health Subcommittee holds a hearing tomorrow on the challenges facing independent medicine. The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on the Family First Prevention Services Act, and another tomorrow on the fentanyl crisis.
This morning: An event on the future of taxation with the looming 2024 election. TPC’s Tracy Gordon will be among the featured speakers at a Politico Event in downtown DC this morning starting at 8:30 am. More details are available here.
Massachusetts’ “millionaires’ tax” exceeds projections. The commonwealth has collected about $1.8 billion from the voter-approved surtax on its highest earners through the first nine months of the fiscal year. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue had forecast collecting $1 billion for the entire fiscal year. The revenue is earmarked for education and transportation needs.
Arkansas’ lawmakers may soon consider tax cuts. The state’s Department of Finance and Administration expects an additional $708 million in tax collections by the end of the fiscal year. Most of the extra revenue comes from income and sales tax collections. The past three years have seen the largest budget surpluses in Arkansas state history.
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