(There are two stories here; the first regards General Motors;the second regards Caterpillar ) Caterpillar (CAT) faced grilling by a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday over allegations that the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer deferred or avoided $2.4 billion in taxes as part of a corporate restructuring 15 years ago that sent most of its profits from international replacement-part sales to one of its Switzerland subsidiaries. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report Monday that alleges Caterpillar paid accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers more than $55 million to create and execute the tax strategy. At Tuesdays hearing, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., read aloud emails that PwC accountants sent one another, including one 2008 email exchange that read: What the heck. Well all be retired when this comes up on audit. Steven R. Williams, the PwC managing director who wrote the email, testified Tuesday that the email was an inappropriate use of words and an attempt at humor. Republicans on the subcommittee — including ranking member John McCain of Arizona and Rand Paul of Kentucky — that at least part of the blame lay with the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35%, which is higher than that of other wealthy nations. Calling for a more competitive tax system, McCain said the corporate tax rate is a factor in moving U.S. operations overseas and parking profits overseas rather than bringing them back. Read More At Investors Business Daily: news.investors/business/040114-695436-general-motors-caterpillar-congressional-hearings-recall-taxes.htm#ixzz2xkW6YPnQ Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 17:06:53 +0000
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