Schweitzer says drug companies avoiding taxes

Schweitzer says drug companies avoiding taxes

HELENA (AP) — Gov. Brian Schweitzer says new laws are needed to collect taxes on income that he says big drug companies are hiding overseas.

Schweitzer says he will bring the proposal to the Legislature when it meets in 2011.

The move is the latest by Schweitzer to shed light on the pharmaceutical industry. He is highly critical of the prices drug companies charge in the United States, and the deals Congress has made with the companies.

Schweitzer says the drug industry has hidden from billions in federal and state taxes by shifting income earned in the United States to overseas locations.

HELENA (AP) — Gov. Brian Schweitzer says new laws are needed to collect taxes on income that he says big drug companies are hiding overseas.

Schweitzer says he will bring the proposal to the Legislature when it meets in 2011.

The move is the latest by Schweitzer to shed light on the pharmaceutical industry. He is highly critical of the prices drug companies charge in the United States, and the deals Congress has made with the companies.

Schweitzer says the drug industry has hidden from billions in federal and state taxes by shifting income earned in the United States to overseas locations.