With $181 billion stashed overseas, Apple tops the list of U.S. companies that hold the most offshore profit, according to a new study released Tuesday.
Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund used the companies’ SEC filings in the study, which found that Fortune 500 companies held more than $2.1 trillion in profit overseas in 2014.
Apple would have to pay more than $59 billion in taxes if the company tried to bring its $181 billion back to the United States, according to the study, which also noted that the Cupertino tech giant has three tax-haven subsidiaries overseas.
Apple reported in July that it had $203 billion in cash, the first time it broke the $200 billion mark.
In 2013, Apple CEO Tim Cook testified at a Senate hearing about his company’s tax avoidance. (Troy Wolverton wrote at the time about the accusations the company was facing regarding its tax practices. Apple was said to have $102 billion in overseas cash at the time.)
Cook said then that Apple complies with all laws and pays “every single dollar” it owes. He touted the many jobs the company has created and the taxes it has paid, saying that as far as he knew at the time, Apple was the biggest taxpayer in America. He also said Apple holds a lot of cash overseas because of its global growth, and to fund its international operations. And he called for simplifying U.S. corporate tax laws and lowering corporate taxes, such as the 35 percent tax to repatriate overseas profit.
We’ve contacted Apple for comment about this week’s study.
The study put GE at No. 2 on the list, with $119 billion held offshore. Some other tech companies on the list:
- Microsoft, $108 billion
- IBM, $61 billion
- Cisco Systems, $53 billion
- Google, $47 billion
- Hewlett-Packard, $43 billion
- Oracle, $38 billion
- Intel, $23 billion
Photo: An Apple store in central Beijing, China, in 2013. (Alexander F. Yuan/Associated Press)
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