Boston Scientific Corporation: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

2025 vs 2024  ·  SEC EDGAR  ·  2026-10-16
Other years: 2026 vs 2025
⚠ AI Risk Brief Interpretation layer — deterministic data below

Four risk factors substantively strengthened, focusing on tax exposure, economic conditions, supply chain resilience, and market competition.

Direction ↑ More concerning
✓ Deterministic extraction — no AI-generated data

Classification is based on semantic text similarity scoring and may include approximations. “No match” means no high-confidence textual match was found — not necessarily that a section was removed.

0
New Risks
0
Removed
4
Modified
22
Unchanged
🟡 Modified Disclosure change7/10

Changes in tax laws, unfavorable resolution of tax contingencies, or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations and/or liquidity.

high match confidence

Sentence-level differences:

  • Reworded sentence: "We are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, tariffs, and duties in the U.S."
  • Added sentence: "Tax laws and regulations could change on a prospective or retroactive basis and any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations."
  • Added sentence: "Following the issuance of any new law or regulation, interpretations are made by the Company, using any regulatory guidance and judicial interpretations issued after the law change."
  • Added sentence: "The Company's application of such tax laws, before and after any guidance or interpretations are issued, or in the absence of such guidance or interpretations, may have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations."
  • Reworded sentence: "Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcomes of these disputes or other tax audits or that issues raised by tax authorities will be resolved at a financial cost that does not exceed our related reserves."

Current (2025):

View prior text (2024)

We are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes and tariffs, in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. We are subject to ongoing tax audits in various jurisdictions. Tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess additional taxes. We regularly assess the likely outcomes of these audits to determine the appropriateness of our tax provision, and we have established contingency reserves for material, known tax exposures. However, the calculation of such tax exposures involves the application of complex tax laws and regulations in many jurisdictions, as well as interpretations as to the legality under European Union state aid rules of tax advantages granted in certain jurisdictions. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcomes of these disputes or other tax audits or that issues raised by tax authorities will be resolved at a financial cost that does not exceed our related reserves and the actual outcomes of these disputes and other tax audits could have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition.

Changes in tax laws and regulations, or their interpretation and application, in the jurisdictions where we are subject to tax could materially impact our effective tax rate. The U.S. enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on December 22, 2017 and the Inflation Reduction Act on August 16, 2022. We expect the U.S. Treasury to issue future notices and regulations regarding the application and interpretation of these laws which could have a significant impact on our future results of operations as could interpretations made by the Company in the absence of regulatory guidance and judicial interpretations.

The Group of Twenty (G20), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Commission (EC) and individual taxing jurisdictions where we and our affiliates do business have recently focused on issues related to the taxation of multinational corporations. The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework (IF) on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) includes actions intended to equip governments with domestic and international rules and instruments to address tax avoidance, ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed and where value is created. The actions include a two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges of the digitalized economy. Pillar One focuses on how profits are allocated between taxing jurisdictions and Pillar Two creates a 15% global minimum tax. As of December 31, 2023, many countries where we do business, including 17 in the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan have already implemented the Pillar Two global minimum tax into their national laws. Other countries are considering enacting laws consistent with the Pillar Two rules but have yet to pass legislation, while still others have yet to announce their intentions to adopt. Additionally, the OECD has continued to issue new guidance on the Pillar Two framework throughout 2023. While we continue to monitor legislative adoption by country of the Pillar Two rules, as well as for additional guidance from the OECD, there is significant uncertainty that exists regarding the interpretation of the detailed Pillar Two rules, whether such rules will be implemented consistently across taxing jurisdictions, how such rules interact with existing national tax laws and whether such rules are consistent with existing tax treaty obligations. Accordingly, the final adoption, implementation, and interpretation of Pillar Two across all jurisdictions where we do business could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The tax laws in the U.S. and other countries in which we and our affiliates do business could change on a prospective or retroactive basis and any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business. Furthermore, changes in customs laws and regulations in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions could have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition.

Our operations in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Malaysia presently benefit from various tax incentives and grants. Unless these incentives and grants are extended, they will expire between 2027 and 2034. If we are unable to renew, extend, or obtain new incentive and grants, the expiration of the existing incentives and grants could have a material impact on our financial results in future periods.

🟡 Modified Challenging domestic and international economic conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. 🔒
🟡 Modified Interruption of our supply chain or manufacturing operations, including resulting from natural disasters, public health crises, geopolitical developments or other events outside of our control, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. 🔒
🟡 Modified significant market segments, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. 🔒
3 changes in this historical filing

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