Apple, Microsoft Won’t Hold Breath Waiting For Tax Shift
This year tax reform proposed by President Trump could give US companies access to hundreds of billions of dollars they have stashed overseas –but many can’t wait for it to materialise
Apple and Microsoft between them last week sold US$27 billion (A$35.2 billion) of debt to fund their daily operations, repay maturing debt and buy back shares.
However, along with other bigcompanies, they are hoping that new tax laws proposed by Trump come into force this year, which would see them pay just a one-time 10 percent levy to bring back to the US huge sums of money held overseas. The current levy is at 30 percent, which has seen these companies leave the money overseas.
Apple has the biggest overseas stash, estimated at more than US$230 billion, while Microsoft has around $120 billion, Alphabet/Google $90 billion and Cisco about $70 billion.