高盛利用税收倒置称霸并购领域

    对高盛（Goldman Sachs）来说，税收倒置（tax inversion）一直都是一门赚钱的好生意。

    这家投资银行的业务之一是为公司提供建议，让它们通过有争议的收购活动将总部迁至海外，进而规避美国的税收——这项业务给高盛带来的收入超过了其他任何一家华尔街公司。汤森路透（Thomson Reuters）的数据显示，三年半以来，通过告诉别的公司如何借助收购来少给美国做贡献，高盛获得的手续费已经超过了2亿美元。

    高盛当然不是税收倒置的唯一受益者。紧随其后的是摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase），这项业务为它带来了1.85亿美元收入。《纽约时报》（The New York Times）周二指出，整体而言，华尔街公司通过这项业务获得的手续费收入已经接近10亿美元大关。此外，别忘了参与这些收购活动的律师事务所和其他咨询机构收取的那些手续费。

    通过充分参与税收倒置，今年高盛得以重新成为并购咨询领域的王者。富国银行（Wells Fargo）指出，截至7月中旬，高盛在今年全球已经完成的并购交易中占据了几乎30%的份额。这帮助它巩固了榜首位置，继续领先于摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）。去年此时，高盛在并购领域的表现稍逊于摩根士丹利。不过，如果按照已公布的并购项目数量计算，去年排名靠前的还是高盛。

    在业绩电话会议上，摩根大通首席执行官吉米•戴蒙在回答《财富》（Fortune）杂志记者提问时为税收倒置业务点了个赞。他说，只要美国的税率继续高于其他国家，美国公司就可以迁到别处。他把这样的举措比作消费者到沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）购物，因为那里的商品看起来比别处便宜。

    高盛首席执行官劳埃德•布兰克梵似乎从未就税收倒置问题发表过类似言论，他既不支持，也没有表示过反对。两年前，就在美国行将跌落财政悬崖之际，布兰克梵在《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）上发表社论称，美国政府需要提高税收。他说，奥巴马总统已经表示愿意敲定企业税收改革方案，同时呼吁企业领导人跟总统携手合作。但双方一直未能就此达成共识。

    作为避开美国国税局（IRS）的一种方法，税收倒置日益受到美国公司欢迎，但对这种做法的审查也越发严格。《财富》杂志高级编辑艾伦•斯隆最近表示，那些进行税收倒置活动的公司高层采用了一种“不利于美国的积极方式”。此外，斯隆指出，这种行为削弱了美国的税收基础，对所有股东来说是个长期不利因素。

    大家知道还有谁对税收倒置感到担心吗？高盛的经济学家们。该公司在最近发布的报告中提到了自己可能给美国政府造成了多少税收损失。真应该把这篇报告拿给那些投行人士看看。(财富中文网)

    译者：Charlie

    Tax inversions have been, well, golden, for Goldman Sachs.

    The investment bank has made more than any other Wall Street firm advising companies on the controversial acquisition deals that have enabled U.S. companies to move their headquarters overseas and avoid U.S. taxes. According to Thomson Reuters, Goldman has raked in just over $200 million in fees in 3.5 years advising companies on how to do deals that will allow them to contribute less to the United States.

    Goldman is certainly not alone in benefitting from inversions. It is closely followed by JPMorgan Chase , which stands to make $185 million on these deals. The New York Times noted on Tuesday that, collectively, Wall Street firms are nearing in on the $1 billion mark in fees from the deals, and don’t forget all the fees charged by law firms and other advisors who work on these deals.

    By jumping with both feet into inversions, Goldman has been able to regain the top spot among M&A advisors this year. According to Wells Fargo, through mid July, Goldman was an advisor on just under 30% of all completed global M&A transactions this year. That helped it secure the No. 1 spot over Morgan Stanley . This time last year, Goldman followed Morgan slightly on M&A transactions. But Goldman still led last year by the number of deals announced.

    In response to a question from a Fortune reporter on an earnings conference call, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon gave the tax inversion deals a thumbs up. He said as long as the U.S. was going to have a higher tax rate than other countries, American companies should feel free to move elsewhere. He likened the move to consumers who choose to shop at Wal-Mart because it’s ostensibly cheaper than alternative options.

    Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein does not seem to have made any similar statements on inversions, either for or against. Two years ago, as the U.S. was nearing the fiscal cliff, Blankfein wrote an editorial for the Wall Street Journal saying the government needed to raise more tax revenue. He said that President Obama had signaled that he was willing to make a deal on corporate tax reform, and Blankfein called for business leaders to work with the president. No deal was ever struck.

    Inversions have become an increasingly popular way for U.S. companies to avoid the IRS, and they have come under increasing scrutiny. Fortune’s Allan Sloan recently called corporate executives who do inversions “positively un-American.” What’s more, Sloan argued that inversions undermined the U.S. tax base and that such deals will be bad for all shareholders in the long run.

    You know who else is worried about inversions? Economists at Goldman Sachs. The bank recently noted in a report how much money the U.S. could lose in tax dollars because of them. Someone should show that report to the bankers.