ALJAZEERA: The majority of Fortune 500 companies stash their cash away from the reach of United States authorities in tax havens around the world, keeping $90 billion out of the country’s coffers and placing an extra burden on American citizens, according to a new report released on Thursday.
In 2013, Apple, GE, Microsoft, Pfizer and Merck rounded out the top five in the amount of profit held offshore in subsidiary shell companies, often just post office boxes, located in countries with corporate tax rates far lower than those in the United States, according to the study, conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Tax Justice.
Under current U.S. tax code, these companies can defer paying taxes on the offshore money indefinitely since corporations do not have to pay income tax on their overseas profits until that money is brought into the U.S… (more)
