“In three deals spread over almost a decade, the owner of Tide detergent, Bounty towels, Gillette shaving products, and many other household names has managed to reopen a loophole that Congress closed in 1997. By my estimate, P&G's profits on the deals, which involve selling brands it no longer wants, total about $6 billion and are tax-free to the company, and are tax-deferred to its shareholders, possibly forever. A straight-up sale would have triggered a $2 billion federal tax bill and a hefty state tax bill (for details, see my calculations at the bottom of the page). All three involve so-called Reverse Morris Trust transactions, of which more later. "P&G is the most active practitioner of this technique," says tax expert Robert Willens of Robert Willens LLC.”

-Allan Sloan, Fortune magazine, noting P&G made $6 Billion (tax-free)

Read entire article here: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/19/procter-gamble-tax-avoidance/