MASSDEVICE ON CALL — President Barack Obama took time in this weeks’ regular address to criticize the wave of "corporate inversions," in which companies, such as Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), are using outside-U.S. acquisitions to shift their headquarters overseas.

Inversions, a perfectly legal maneuver, allow companies to adopt an acquired target’s overseas base as the new headquarters, thus landing the buyer in a more favorable tax environment, especially for taxes earned overseas. A spate of companies have announced inversions in recent months, sparking a flurry of condemners and defenders.

The White House has announced initiatives to clamp down on inversions and President Obama reiterated the administration’s stance during this week’s address.

"Even as corporate profits are as high as ever, a small but growing group of big corporations are fleeing the country to get out of paying taxes," Obama said. "They’re keeping most of their business inside the U.S., but they’re basically renouncing their citizenship and declaring that they’re based somewhere else, just to avoid paying their fair share."

"The best way to level the playing field is through tax reform that lowers the corporate tax rate, closes wasteful loopholes, and simplifies the tax code for everybody," he added. "But stopping companies from renouncing their citizenship just to get out of paying their fair share of taxes is something that cannot wait."

Obama called for an end to the "unpatriotic" inversion loophole, noting that Democrats in Congress have advanced measures that would do just that.

See the full address:

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