U.S. Companies Avoiding Taxes By Merging With Foreign Companies

DETROIT (WWJ) - More and more American companies are moving overseas to save millions in taxes by merging with foreign companies. It's called Corporate Inversion.

President Barack Obama has talked about executive action to combat the loss of billions in U.S. tax dollars over the next ten years.

The president of the Business Roundtable, former Michigan Governor John Engler, speaking on Fox News Sunday, says we should have the best tax code in the world.

"We really haven't touched it in 30 years since the Reagan Compromise back in the mid '80s and since that time, everybody in the world's been changing their tax code . We've now got a tax code that actually is more favorable to foreign-headquartered companies than it is to our own."

Obama has said he might consider executive action to stop inversions, calling them unpatriotic ... while some Republicans say it's more of an election year ploy.

"I think that this is an opportunity for the president to lead. I think the call maybe ought to be to Secretary Lew. Look, let's get Chairman (Dave) Camp (R-MI) and Chairman (Ron) Wyden, the respective relevant chairs in a room over August and September, we could have something ready to go when we get back.

Let's not spend the time at Treasury trying to come up with little fixes when we've got an opportunity to improve the competitiveness of the United States," said Engler.

Twenty-five U.S. companies could complete a so-called corporate inversion this year.