US Treasury weighing actions to stem tax inversions

The Obama administration said it was considering administrative actions to discourage US companies from moving to other countries to reduce their tax bills, given the failure of Congress to address the issue.

"Treasury is reviewing a broad range of authorities for possible administrative actions that could limit the ability of companies to engage in inversions, as well as approaches that could meaningfully reduce the tax benefits after inversions take place," a Treasury spokesperson said in an email.

The spokesperson added that there were limits to what Treasury can do without action by Congress, and that "legislation is the only way to fully address inversions."