Bloomberg News notices that early in the Obama administration, Delphi, the auto parts supplier that the administration helped rescue as part of the auto industry bailout, moved its official headquarters to England from Michigan to save on taxes. The article begins:
President Barack Obama says U.S. corporations that adopt foreign addresses to avoid taxes are unpatriotic. His own administration helped one $20 billion American company do just that.
As part of the bailout of the auto industry in 2009, Obama's Treasury Department authorized spending $1.7 billion of government funds to get a bankrupt Michigan parts-maker back on its feet -- as a British company. While executives continue to run Delphi Automotive Plc from a Detroit suburb, the paper headquarters in England potentially reduces the company's U.S. tax bill by as much as $110 million a year.
Bloomberg asked Obama auto tsar Steven Rattner about it:
In an interview, Rattner said as far as he can remember, he wasn't aware of any plan for Delphi to take a foreign address until Bloomberg News asked him about it a few weeks ago. He said others on his team handled the details of the Delphi negotiations, which he said contributed to the industry's revival.
