Repatriation of money should have been a leading metric as it is a one-time holiday, after which anything can be done with the cash.
Last time this was done in 2004, the bulk of the money was repatriated within 6 months of the holiday being announced.
OhâŚand btwâŚthe results were just as dismal back thenâŚonly about $300 billion of about $2 trillion (~15%) came back in, and the vast majority of funds thatbdid come back in went intoâŚyou guessed itâŚstock buybacks.
As a matter of fact, three firms that participated big in the effortâŚPfizer, HP, and MerckâŚslashed a combined 36,500 jobs from their payrolls.
So there is no historical evidence that tax repatriation drives economic growth.
I briefly listened to a business segment where experts weighed in on the repatriation. They mentioned uncertainty in several areas was keeping this money offshore in the short-run. They specifically mentioned tariffs and uncertainty about the immediate future. Tax cuts werenât mentioned.
I believe the GOP agenda is favorable to business in general. But that agenda could be in jeopardy if DEMs take back the house. I believe that is the uncertainty the commentators were talking about.
I certainly understand tariffs causing hesitation. But I do not see any link between a Democratic House or even a fully Democratic-led Congress having any short term impact. It is not like they can pass legislation that rolls back the whole legislation that was supposed to allow for this repatriation to begin with. It just does not logically track for me. I guess I donât understand what they believed the reason behind the hesitation would be exactly? As long as Trump is President, he is not going to sign anything reversing what he has done.
Then youâre in the wrong thread. This one is supposed to be about the impact of the tax cuts in getting off-shore money back home, so those companies will reinvest it (instead of just offering stock buybacks).