Tech giants’ cash brought onshore could amount to $89 billion, reveals a report
According to a new report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, if cash from offshore tax havens belonging to a number of tech giants in the United States was brought onshore and taxed at 35%, it would mean a $89 billion windfall for the US Treasury.
While this statistic might not mean much to some, it is clearly something to think about since it amounts to almost 17% of America’s $514 billion budget deficit projected for this year.
The top companies that follows this practice of moving their money abroad include Apple, Google, Microsoft and Cisco amounting to almost $333.11 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
What this report also points to is the high cost involved in not changing the tax that a number of companies say isn’t simplified for them to take such steps.
Apple, in response to the report, summed up the reply of these tech giants, in saying, “We pay all the taxes we owe – every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but also comply with the spirit of the laws.”
In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated clearly that if the US government will simplify the tax code, the company would consider bringing more of its offshore account back to the United States.
It isn’t surprising either that Rand Paul support the practice of offshore tax havens since Apple much like any other American wants to take steps to minimize their tax code every year.
However, it isn’t clear that despite this response that Congress will actually deal with this part of the US tax code this season since it still has issues such as reforms to the NSA and immigration reform to deal with first.