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IRISH CORPORATE ENTITIES helped American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reduce its global tax bill, a US investigation has said.
An investigation by Democratic staff of the US Senate Finance Committee said Pfizer significantly lowered its tax bill by routing profits through Ireland, as well as Puerto Rico and Singapore.
The probe said Pfizer paid a tax rate of just 5.4% in 2019, “followed by rates of 5.3%, 7.6% and 9.6% between 2020 – 2022”.
The headline US corporate tax rate is 21%.
“In fact, Pfizer pays a lower tax rate than millions of working American families,” the report said.
“Pfizer appears to book large amounts of profits in subsidiaries in Ireland, joining a trend of large multinational U.S. corporations that are exploiting subsidiaries in Ireland to capitalize on heavily favorable tax treatment.”
In a statement to The Journal, Pfizer said: “Substantially all of Pfizer’s worldwide income is subject to tax in the United States.
“Pfizer has paid over $12.8 billion in income taxes in the US over the past four years,” it said, referencing the four years 2021 – 2024, inclusive.
“The information published by [the] Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member is incomplete,” the company said.
Asked if any of the information in the Senate report was incorrect, Pfizer did not respond.
Figures published by Pfizer show its profits rose sharply in 2022 due to blockbuster sales of its Covid vaccine.
In 2022, Pfizer recorded net income of $31.4 billion, compared to $22 billion in 2021 and $9.1 billion and 2020 respectively.
The company’s 2022 annual report states: “Our effective tax rates for GAAP Reported income from continuing operations were: 9.6% in 2022, 7.6% in 2021 and 5.3% in 2020.”
Many US companies have been accused of shifting their profits to Ireland in an effort to lower their global tax bills.
Pfizer has long been identified as one of Ireland’s biggest corporate taxpayers, with much of its international revenue flowing through its Irish operations.
The company’s annual report shows that Pfizer has approximately a dozen corporate entities located in Ireland.
The Irish Times previously reported that these Irish subsidiaries are controlled by a firm called CP Pharmaceuticals, which is registered in the Netherlands.
CP Pharmaceuticals had a tax liability of $3.3 billion in 2022, up from $2.4 billion the year before, with most of this likely paid in Ireland.
The US investigation comes at a sensitive time for Ireland, as multiple US figures have recently criticised how the country has used its tax system to attract US pharma companies.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said Ireland was “very smart” in how multiple US pharma businesses shifted their operations there. He pledged to introduce tariffs to “bring pharmaceuticals back” to the US.
US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said recently that Ireland had operated a “tax scam” which resulted in many US pharma and tech companies shifting their intellectual property (IP).
Asked by The Journal if Pfizer had moved IP assets to Ireland, the company did not respond.
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