Walgreens plans to merge with Swiss-based pharmacy chain Alliance Boots. Walgreens will then claim that it’s now a Swiss company, just to be able to pay Switzerland’s lower tax rate.

Walgreens is planning to create a massive new corporate tax loophole. They don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes.  This reflects the massive problems with the US corporate tax structure.  In many ways it is unfair to corporations and we are driving companies away from responsibilities they incur in the US because they use the US roads and bridges, a workforce educated in the US and our legal system.

Their stores are staying put. Walgreens will still depend on US citizens to shop there and make the company profitable.  Thanks to American shoppers Walgreens made $72 billion in profit in 2013. Nearly a quarter of those sales were from services like Medicare and Medicaid that are paid for by our tax dollars.

Walgreens wants all the benefits of being an American company. It should be asked to pay its fair share of taxes here.  Our representatives have not come up with an answer to this dilemma.