NUMBER OF THE WEEK: $156 Billion
The total of inbound cross-border acquisitions of U.S.
firms since the U.S. Treasury announced its anti-inversion measures
last fall. The latest figure reflects a $50 billion jump from last
year's total according to a
news report from the Financial Times. Some of the
biggest foreign buyers are from lower-tax jurisdictions such as
Canada and Ireland. The United States' 35-percent corporate tax
rate remains the highest among industrialized nations.
LEGISLATIVE LANDSCAPE
Enzi and Durbin Introduce Online Sales Tax
Legislation. Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Dick Durbin
(D-IL) have introduced an updated version of the Marketplace
Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect online sales tax
from out-of-state businesses. Similar to the 2013 Senate-passed
bill (
S.743), the 2015 bill (
S.698) has garnered early bipartisan support. Though full text
of the bill is not yet available, the revised legislation may
include a one-year
