American global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer continues to dominate sector news, even after calling off its controversial US$160- billion proposed merger with Ireland’s Allergan.

The New York-based company best known for its blue Viagra pills was tagged in the New Zealand media recently for shipping US$22.5 million in “return of capital” payments to its Netherlands-based parent last year, at the same time it was paid hundreds of thousands of US dollars by Inland Revenue in income tax refunds.

According to the Associated Press report on May 3, “the figures have sparked calls from the Green Party for the Government to follow the lead of Australia who are widely tipped to introduce at their budget a ‘Google tax’ aimed at clawing back billions in diverted profits”.

The New Zealand story claims that “financial reports filed with the Companies Office by the drug company’s local subsidiary, Pfizer New Zealand, show in the year to 30 November 2015 their local branch made a US$22.5-m ‘return of capital’ payment to its Netherlands-based holding company”.

It noted that a year earlier parent company, Pfizer Global Holdings BV, was also paid a US$30-m dividend from its New Zealand subsidiary.

“While the company recorded provisions for income tax for this two-year period of US$1.4m, according to cashflow statements, the company only paid Inland Revenue a net US$59,000 in income tax,” the New Zealand report said.

It added that a spokesman for Pfizer, employed out of its Australian office, declined to comment on the US$52.5m in payments to the Netherlands, or their relatively low tax bills in New Zealand, instead referring the (New Zealand) Herald to a statement it issued in March for the Tax Gap series.

“Corporate integrity is a top priority for Pfizer. Pfizer abides by all the local laws and standards. We are strongly committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations, including tax and accounting laws, in New Zealand and wherever we do business,” the statement said.

However, James Shaw, co-leader of New Zealand’s Green Party, insisted that it looks like a classic case of profit-shifting, as to avoid paying tax in New Zealand.

The tax planning of multinational companies, particularly pharmaceutical firms, have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years over their shuffling of profits into low-tax jurisdictions.

According to a recent New Zealand Herald investigation into the Tax Gap, drug firms took six places on a ranking of the 20 multinational companies most aggressive in shifting profits out of that country.

Pfizer was forced to last month scrap its planned corporate inversion, or the shifting of its operations to low-tax Ireland, after President Barack Obama pushed Congress to tackle the “huge problem” of global tax avoidance.

Pfizer called off the proposed merger with Allergan, a deal that would have moved the biggest American drug maker to Ireland to reduce the company’s taxes, after the US Treasury Department announced rules targeting such deals, which are known as inversions.

“Pfizer approached this transaction from a position of strength and viewed the potential combination as an accelerator of existing strategies,” Ian Read, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said in response.

“We remain focused on continuing to enhance the value of our innovative and established businesses,” he stated, adding that Pfizer planned to make a decision on whether to split its “innovative and established businesses” by no later than the end of this year.

Pfizer will pay Allergan US$150 million for reimbursement of expenses associated with the now-cancelled merger.