An Obama administration crackdown on “tax inversion” deals, which allowed US companies to cut tax bills, has prompted a sharp rise in foreign takeovers of American groups.
奥巴马(Obama)政府打击“税收倒置”(tax inversion)交易的举动，导致外资收购美国企业的数量激增。税收倒置使得美国企业能够降低税负。
The US Treasury in September all but stamped out tax inversions, which enabled US companies to pay less tax by buying a rival from a jurisdiction with a lower corporate tax rate, such as Ireland or the UK, and moving the combined group’s domicile to that country. The move was designed to staunch an exodus of US companies and an erosion in tax revenues but has left many American groups vulnerable to foreign takeovers. Once a cross-border deal is complete, the combined company can generate savings by adopting the overseas buyer’s lower tax rate. There have been $156bn of inbound cross-border US deals announced since the crackdown, compared with $106bn in the same period last year and $81bn a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.
去年9月，美国财政部几乎杜绝了所有税收倒置交易。这类交易使得美国企业能够通过购买企业税率较低司法辖区（比如爱尔兰或英国）内的一家竞争对手、并将合并后集团注册地移往该司法辖区来降低税负。美国财政部的举措是为了遏止美国企业出走潮及税收收入流失，但也致使很多美国企业容易被外资收购。一旦跨境交易完成，合并后的公司可通过采用海外买家所适用的较低税率来节省开支。汤森路透(Thomson Reuters)数据显示，自打击税收倒置行动开展以来，有关方面宣布的入境跨国收购美国企业的交易额已达1560亿美元，相比之下，上年同期交易额为1060亿美元、再上一年同期则为810亿美元。
The biggest buyers have come from countries with lower tax rates such as Canada and Ireland, which have announced $26bn and $22bn of deals respectively. Before the crackdown, groups from Germany and Japan were the biggest buyers of US companies. Foreign buyers have announced $61bn worth of US acquisitions this year, an increase of 31 per cent on last year and the strongest start to a year for inbound cross-border deals since 2007, according to the data.
最大的收购方来自税率较低的国家，比如分别宣布达成260亿美元和220亿美元交易的加拿大与爱尔兰。在打击行动开始之前，德国和日本企业是美国企业的最大收购方。数据显示，今年迄今外国买家宣布达成的收购美国企业的交易价值610亿美元，同比增长31%，堪称2007年以来入境跨国交易最强劲的开局。
When the Obama administration changed the rules on tax inversions, bankers and politicians warned that it would not stop the exodus of companies from the US unless it was accompanied by a cut in the headline rate of US corporation tax, which stands at 35 per cent. However, gridlock in Washington has made it very difficult to overhaul the tax code.
在奥巴马政府修改税收倒置的规定时，银行家及政治人士曾警告称，除非辅以下调美国企业税整体税率（目前为35%），否则此举阻止不了美国企业出走。然而，华盛顿出现的僵局使得其很难彻底修订税法。
Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, said the jump in foreign takeovers “shows that one-off solutions instead of tax reform simply won’t work”.
俄亥俄州共和党参议员罗伯•波特曼(Rob Portman)称，外资收购美国企业的数量激增“表明，通过一次性解决方案而非税收改革来解决问题根本行不通”。