A new study reveals the extent to which companies are using tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes and undermines the case for any tax proposal that would allow companies to repatriate their U.S. profits at a special low tax rate. In 2016, nearly three in four Fortune 500 companies maintained subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, according to “Offshore Shell Games,” an annual study of offshore tax avoidance released today by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Fortune 500 companies’ offshore cash hoard now totals $2.6 trillion, a sum on which these companies are avoiding up to $752 billion in U.S. taxes. Four companies (Apple, Pfizer, Microsoft and General Electric) account for 25 percent of Fortune 500 companies’ offshore cash.
— source uspirgedfund.org 2017-10-18