Senate Summons Apple’s Tim Cook To Testify On Storing Cash Overseas To Avoid Taxes

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Apple has fallen under plenty of scrutiny for storing a majority of its $100+ billion cash horde overseas to avoid paying U.S. corporate taxes, the highest tax rate in the world. Now Apple CEO Tim Cook has been summoned to speak at a Senate hearing next week as part of an investigation into the offshore tax practices of U.S businesses.

Politico reports that Cook will testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee next Tuesday. Apple gave the publication an official comment:

“Apple is one of the largest taxpayers in the United States, having paid $6 billion in federal corporate income tax in fiscal 2012. We also help create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. by keeping our R&D in California and creating category-defining products like the iPhone, iPad and the app store, which has generated billions of dollars in sales for software developers.”

Apple isn’t the only company that stores money offshore to avoid taxation; plenty of other businesses also play the game. Microsoft and HP have already testified in the ongoing trial. Last year, The New York Times examined how Apple saves billions by moving its funds between continents.

To finance its $55 billion stock buyback, Apple recently went into debt for a $17 billion bond offering. By not using its offshore cash horde to pay for the buyback, Apple saved itself $9.2 billion in U.S. corporate taxes.

Source: Politico

Image: Bloomberg

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