Research: Moderna Funnels Profits to Tax Havens

Vaccine producer Moderna has, according to research, set up a structure to channel its profits to tax havens. “A disgrace”, says researcher Vincent Kiezebrink of the Foundation for Research on Multinational Enterprises (SOMO).

According to him, the European Union has already ordered more than 10 billion dollars worth of Moderna corona vaccines.

Together with Wemos, an organization that works for equal access to health services, Kiezebrink has learned that the bills for vaccines ordered by the EU are paid to a recently founded subsidiary in Basel, Switzerland. This would appear from a leaked contract between Moderna and the European Commission.

Switzerland is notorious for its low tax rates and secret tax arrangements, according to SOMO. It is therefore impossible to find out how much tax Moderna actually pays in Switzerland. In addition, the patents on the vaccine are registered in American Delaware.

According to the research, this is a true patent paradise. Delaware does not tax income from intangible assets such as patents. Therefore, much of Moderna’s profits will most likely be shifted to Delaware through royalty payments for the use of patents, Kiezebrink believes. The profit would then be taxed at a low rate.

“As a society, we pay triple,” says the researcher. “We fund research into vaccine development, pay too high prices for the purchase of those vaccines, and then Moderna also uses tax structures to avoid corporate taxes.” Moderna itself has not yet commented on the report.