stocknshares/E+ via Getty Images Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has written to Pfizer ( NYSE: PFE ) CEO Albert Bourla to find out why the company has been paying less than the U.
S. corporate tax rate of 21%. "Since the passage of the 2017 Republican tax law, Pfizer paid effective tax rates of 5.
4% in 2019, 5.3% in 2020, 7.6% in 2021, and 9.
6% in 2022," Wyden wrote in a May 20 letter. "In 2023, Pfizer even reported a negative tax rate and received a refund that exceeded the taxes it paid that year." He added that even though the company takes in billions in revenue annual, the pharmaceutical giant "incomprehensibly pays a lower tax rate than millions of working American families.
" Citing the pharma's 2022 10-K, the senator noted Pfizer's lower effective tax rate was because of the "jurisdictional location of earnings" and "largely due to lower tax rates in certain jurisdictions." The 2017 tax law allows U.S.
multinational companies to tax the profits of its foreign subsidiaries at 10.5%. "There is a substantial discrepancy between where Pfizer generates prescription drug sales and where Pfizer books earnings from those drug sales for tax purposes," Wyden wrote.
"However, Pfizer frequently books all of its taxable income outside of the U.S. and even claims losses in the U.
S. for tax purposes. Wyden mentioned that in 2023, Pfizer ( PFE ) reported a $4.
4B loss in the U.S. on $27 billion in U.
S. sales while reporting $5.4B billion in earnings on.
