When the resident or his advisers talk about inversions these days, they are truly talking about intentional and virulent discrimination of our American companies compared to foreign companies.
In the present environment, U.S. companies are at a severe financial disadvantage compared to foreign companies. Inversions have nothing to do with taxes that the US or foreign companies pay on income they earn within the United States. It all has to do with foreign-earned income, which the United States government lays claim to — and is the only major country to do so. Under U.S. tax law, U.S. companies are forced to pay higher tax rates than other foreign companies on the income they make in foreign countries.
All inversions are, therefore, are a way for U.S. companies to change their HQ from the U.S. to a foreign country, for the sole purpose of allowing themselves the express privilege of being on par with foreign companies and eliminate the severe disadvantage that the U.S. puts on its own businesses!
It is outrageous that the government applies such discrimination. It is outrageous that American companies have to chose to move their headquarters elsewhere simply to survive and compete globally, because they are taxed on their profits in two jurisdictions — both domestic and foreign.
If the government truly abhors the thought of American companies moving their incorporation abroad, then they should drop this tax policy immediately. Make no mistake — every politician who favors this recent, artificial attack on “unpatriotic inversions” shows they are hostile and antagonistic to American companies as well.
For more on what inversions actually are, you can read this earlier article