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When Apple or Google had billions of dollars kept overseas like this, they could still invest it outside the US with no additional tax burden. So when these com
by lacker 9y ago
When Apple or Google had billions of dollars kept overseas like this, they could still invest it outside the US with no additional tax burden. So when these companies were building new datacenters or hiring new employees or doing any sort of investment in their business, there was essentially a 30% discount to do it internationally rather than in the US.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoNot the whole 30%, they will get a credit for taxes paid overseas, though because different tax systems don’t match up very well, double taxation is inevitable without a decent treaty in place.
- valuearb 9y agoIt’s actually 5 levels of taxation, and no treaty can change that. Foreign corporate income tax, us corporate income tax, state corporate income tax, federal personal dividend tax, state personal income tax.
- jacksmith21006 9y agoTo be fair Apple has over 90% offshore and over $100B US debt in addition. Versus Google has 60% offshore and less than $4B debt. So equating the two is not really correct.
- astrodust 9y agoA lot of that debt is bonds where they borrowed against their own cash for tax reasons. Interest rates are so crazy low it's cheaper to borrow your own money than pay taxes on it.