FINANCIAL TIMES: Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of heavy machinery, used a Swiss affiliate to shift 85 per cent of its parts profits to defer or avoid paying $2.4bn in US taxes, according to a report by Carl Levin, a Democratic US senator.
The company moved $8bn in profits from the US to Switzerland to take advantage of a special 4 per cent to 6 per cent corporate tax rate it negotiated with the Swiss government, according to the report from Mr Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations…
The company is the latest target of Senate inquiries into US companies accused of using overseas affiliates to avoid billions in US taxes. Past hearings focused onApple and Hewlett-Packard, but Mr Levin said Caterpillar’s moves showed that tax avoidance was not just a strategy used by tech companies… (more)
