March 3, 2017
By Ally Marotti
Years of federal scrutiny (click here) over Caterpillar's overseas business practices and tax strategies came to a head Thursday with a raid on the heavy machine maker's Peoria headquarters.
Authorities from three agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, arrived before 11 a.m. at the headquarters and two nearby facilities. Initially only confirming the raid, Caterpillar later in the day acknowledged it was tied to the same issue that has dogged the company for eight years: its use of a parts subsidiary based in Switzerland and tax-saving practices that sparked a Senate investigation, shareholder lawsuits and a $1 billion penalty.
The raid is the latest shock to a city still adjusting to Caterpillar's January announcement that it would relocate its headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago area.
Long a global and domestic powerhouse in the world of mining and construction equipment, Caterpillar has been under investigation by federal authorities for years....
...In 2014, a Senate investigation found the company had used its Swiss affiliate to take advantage of a corporate tax rate it negotiated and avoided paying at least $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes. Soon after, shareholders filed lawsuits against the company and its accounting firm, PwC, alleging breach of fiduciary duties. That matter is ongoing.
A technical change Caterpillar made in 1999 shifted most of the profits from replacement parts sold outside the U.S. to the Swiss subsidiary, Caterpillar SARL, or CSARL, but "did not ... otherwise change how Caterpillar's replacement parts business functioned on the ground," according to a Senate report....
The American people are tired of the SLICK Wall Street CEO. No different than Alcoa in building a smelter plant in Iceland RATHER THAN digging in and finding answers to CO2 emissions as other countries have. We are sick of it.
It is called MORALITY, in case there was confusion about it.
It is not a church morality, it is decency and loyalty and responsible citizenship. Wall Street wants to think of itself as people, American people; THEN ACT LIKE IT!!!!!
...In 2014, a Senate investigation found the company had used its Swiss affiliate to take advantage of a corporate tax rate it negotiated and avoided paying at least $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes. Soon after, shareholders filed lawsuits against the company and its accounting firm, PwC, alleging breach of fiduciary duties. That matter is ongoing.
A technical change Caterpillar made in 1999 shifted most of the profits from replacement parts sold outside the U.S. to the Swiss subsidiary, Caterpillar SARL, or CSARL, but "did not ... otherwise change how Caterpillar's replacement parts business functioned on the ground," according to a Senate report....
The American people are tired of the SLICK Wall Street CEO. No different than Alcoa in building a smelter plant in Iceland RATHER THAN digging in and finding answers to CO2 emissions as other countries have. We are sick of it.
It is called MORALITY, in case there was confusion about it.
It is not a church morality, it is decency and loyalty and responsible citizenship. Wall Street wants to think of itself as people, American people; THEN ACT LIKE IT!!!!!
