Tuesday, June 24, 2014
New Ulm (Minn.) Journal: On June 14, the governor heard from the chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Omar Ishrak, that the company was planning to spend $42.9 billion to acquire an Irish company that makes medical devices.
In the merger, Medtronic will move its corporate headquarters from Minnesota to Ireland to take advantage of Ireland’s lower corporate taxes, and to access the billions in foreign profits it has stashed away.
The governor said this is great news, that he was assured that Medtronic plans to keep its operational headquarters in Minnesota, that no jobs would be lost due to the acquisition, and that Medtronic intends to create 1,000 new medical-technology jobs in the next five years.
Flawed tax law
But it’s also a sign that the corporate tax law in Minnesota and in the U.S. is flawed, driving companies to set up corporate headquarters in foreign countries to escape the higher tax rates in the U.S. and hindering further investment in this country.