Episode Details

While it’s legal to minimize taxes, some corporations push the limits of the law and pay average tax rates much lower than might seem fair. Just one example–among many–is the NJ-based pharmaceutical firm Merck, said to pay in 2021 an effective tax rate of 11%, roughly half the US average corporate tax rate of 21%.

Do firms have a moral obligation to obey the spirit of the law in addition to the letter of the law? Are they bound by Delaware law that requires them to work in the interests of their owners and shareholders? Or should the tax law be modified to make it clearer that the spirit of the law is relevant and often determinative?

Larry Zicklin (BBA, ’57) discusses these questions with Prof. Michael Meisler, Lecturer in the Stan Ross Department of Accountancy, and Prof. Daniel I. Halperin (BBA, ’57), Stanley S. Surrey Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School. With an introduction by Interim Dean Paquita Davis-Friday and a Q&A session moderated by Associate Dean Gwen Webb.

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