“As a coalition led by Apple Inc., Google Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc presses for a tax holiday on more than $1 trillion in offshore profits, it is turning to a well-positioned lobbyist: Jeffrey Forbes, once chief of staff to Max Baucus, chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee,” Richard Rubin and Jesse Drucker report for Bloomberg.
“Data compiled by Bloomberg News show that Forbes is part of an army of more than 160 lobbyists, including at least 60 who once worked for a sitting member of the House or Senate, pushing for the repatriation holiday,” Rubin and Drucker report. “Their job is to persuade Congress to establish a tax break estimated to cost the U.S. government $78.7 billion over the next decade.”
“Though the studies found that money brought home in 2004 ended up benefiting a narrow set of shareholders, support is growing in Congress for the tax holiday as companies expand their roster of lobbyists,” Rubin and Drucker report. “One case they are making is that the potential flood of cash will boost the faltering U.S. economy. Advocates for the break say a repatriation holiday would bring more than $1 trillion to the U.S. now held overseas. ‘It would do much to regenerate the economy,’ said Robert Livingston, a former Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and speaker-designate who is now lobbying for Oracle Corp. ‘A total of $1.5 trillion from all affected U.S. companies would go a long way to pull us out of the doldrums.'”
Rubin and Drucker report, “The proposed break has gained momentum in recent months, with several prominent Democrats, including Senator Charles Schumer of New York, expressing a willingness to consider the tax holiday. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, a House member from Minnesota, and Texas Governor Rick Perry have called on Congress to let companies bring home offshore earnings at a reduced tax rate. The Obama administration has said it is opposed to a stand- alone tax holiday for repatriated profits, pointing to the 2004 experience.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple lobbies Obama for tax holiday, wants to bring overseas bounty home – August 24, 2011
U.S Senate Democrat Schumer allies with Apple, other multinationals on repatriation tax talks – June 21, 2011
U.S. companies push for tax break on foreign cash – June 20, 2011
Apple, Oracle, Duke Energy, others organize lobbying blitz for tax holiday – February 17, 2011
Apple can bring home its money when it brings home our jobs!
Apple, assemble your products in the USA.
Until American politicians stop fanning the fires of class envy…
Until government agencies stop policies that is unreasonably hinder growth in industry…
Until agents stop invading companies (like Gibson guitar) and confiscating materials without due process or actually proof of wrongdoing…
I will not fault Apple for manufacturing its products elsewhere. Good for FedEx.
The only people saying class warfare are the rich and those protecting the rich in order to try to make the temporary Bush tax cuts permanent and keep special tax loop holes for the rich.
Please name these policies that hinder business growth.
Gibson Guitar was raided by the Feds because of allegations on importing illegal endangered woods.
the logistics of having to ship all the individual components to the US in order to assemble them here would be a nightmare…
The west pacific region is the ONLY place to build these devices as all the parts and components are manufactured in the region as well.
Apple has created some 15,000 jobs in the US through its retail stores.
So, Gary, you’re prepared to pay double for your goods, just so some lard-ass gets off welfare and screws up an Apple made in the USA product. I’ll stick with the thin Chinese. Just joking’ Gary. But ?
All of developed countries live in mostly post-industrial economy.
Attempts to artificially turn it back to industrial economy are vain and will only cause huge losses for any country which will decide to pursue it.
Well said!! Pay attention people. Move beyond the 50s.
Apple has created over 30,000 jobs in the US in the last 5 years. What’s your problem?
Please form your line here for the incoming political debate. Thank you for your compliance.
Ohh, is this line going to be bigger than the apple store opening lines? and do we get free t-shirts?
Even better. Every debater that begins foaming at the mouth gets a free dose of Ritalin and pillow/blanket for naptime.
What about a time out in the corner? We can’t forget that! 😉
In 2004, the U.S. unemployment rate was below 5% which means full employment.
In 2011, no such state exists, gullible hopenchange pawns. The Obama mistake has brought us the malaise of over 9% unemployed and well over 20% underemployed (those who have stopped looking for work or part-time workers who want full-time employment).
Obama is a fool to think that 2004 can predict what tax repatriation can do for the country that’s deeply mired in his malaise in 2011.
The ill-considered empty suit/empty promises experiment has failed miserably. The good news is that we’ll next have a Republican back in the White House to once again lead America to prosperity. Only a little over a year left of slogging through the malaise born of Obama/Senate Dems incompetence.
@First 2010, Then 2012
“Obama is a fool to think that 2004 can predict what tax repatriation can do for the country”, but you know, right? You also know with absolute certainty that a Republican in the White House make a big difference?
I am willing to bet that if you were knocked into a coma for 4 years and woke up in the middle of 2015, and went through life for a whole year with the only stipulation that nobody is allowed to tell you who is president, after one year I’d love to ask you “Well, you went to work for a year, drove your car all year, and shopped at the supermarket for a year, do we have a Republican or Democrat in the White House?” I bet you couldn’t tell the difference!
I wish all of you would stop acting like you know so much of what you are talking about and how a Republican/Democrat would make such a difference. If you didn’t know who was in the White House could you “feel” whether he was a Democrat or a Republican? Of course not, so stop acting like it really matters! You all talk big, but couldn’t tell the difference in a “Blind taste test” !
…End Rant !
Partisan troll alert!
Dude, don’t you remember who was in the White House during the 8 years running up to the home mortgage system collapse? Just because someone has an elephant pin on his shirt doesn’t mean he won’t be a dips**t. It’s up to the electorate to pick someone who is up to the task. I personally don’t care what party the next president is from from as long as he (or she) can get the job done and doesn’t have some crazy, extreme political agenda (either left-wing or right-wing).
@pjs_boston
But we still wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Democrat or Republican unless they told us. That is the issue I am trying to point out. They are all the same. It is not the party it’s the person.
This person did “this” or “that”, and we won’t know until after the fact once it’s too late (for better or for worse). Party’s got nothing to do with it.
In fact we vote for “what they say”, but they are never even required to “do what they say”, so what exactly are we voting for anyway ?
You have President Clinton to thank for the very low unemployment rate President Bush inherited. Furthermore, the unemployment rate was at about 5% by the end of May 2008 when the economy began collapsing in on its self; banks failing, the economy loosing from 400-700k every month and the US car companies threatening liquidation by Christmas.
By the end of January 2009 the unemployment rate was at 7.8% ten days after Obama was sworn in as president. By the end of April 2009 the unemployment rate was about 8.9% almost were it is today.
You give the President too much credit/blame. Under Clinton outsourcing was non-existent, under Bush companies could fire employees quick enough. Under Obama, also a Democrat like Clinton, unemployment is high. Overall, the unemployment has nothing to do with Clinton, Bush, nor Obama. It has everything to do with Corporations wanting to make massive profits and it is of little concern to them whether they hire an American, Indian, Canadian, or Chinese to do it.
You could argue that employment has actually gone up, just not here. We have Corporate America to blame for the state of the economy here in the USA, I don’t see anything a Democrat, nor a Republican could have done about Corporate greed.
In fact, as a small business man, I could say that raising corporate tax would cause me to invest more. If the taxes on my profit were zero, why should I bother with risk, I have the money risk free. If you raise my taxes to 100% of whatever money I don’t invest, now I’ll invest every dime into something.
To me the whole debate about lower taxes for the wealthy to create jobs is stupid too. It is disconnected from reality!
“The Obama mistake has brought us the malaise of over 9% unemployed and well over 20% underemployed”
I’m sorry, I wasn’t informed that Obama was president between 2000 and 2008, and largely responsible for the crisis that threw the world in a mud pit.
That surely makes more sense!
I don’t want a republican. I want a fiscal conservative.
Congress should grant the tax holiday the provision that any profits repatriated must be used to build corporate infrastructure and fund jobs in the USA. With 1 trillion dollars of corporate profits released into the US economy in the form of construction and jobs, the stimulus would exceed any government spending package thus far with zero net cost to US taxpayers. The increased tax revenues from such an economic stimulus would greatly exceed the $85 million in tax breaks corporations are asking for, plus we would avoid another deficit busting government stimulus package. This is a total win-win-win for corporations, the government and the American people. Any politician that does not support this is either an ideologue or is pandering to his/her party base.
“Yes, we can’t.”
This is ironic… Apple and Google’s love and support for Obama… falling all over him whenever they can… and now they want tax breaks from the very person that is trying to stick it to the greedy people/rich companies.
Apple and Google, please fall in line with Buffett, Turnner, Howard, Barr and many other flaming liberals that want to pay more taxes (or just their lip service)… What we really need is the Obama tax for all progressive liberals who supported him in the last several elections.
All you mindless people that are marching on banks… maybe you should be at Apple and Google’s head quarters. Are they not the real greedy rich companies?
Pay your taxes!
“What we really need is the Obama tax for all progressive liberals who supported him in the last several elections.”
Then it shouldn’t really be called “Obama tax”, since taxing the poor and sparing the billionaires is exactly what Republicans intend to do…
You are drinking too much of the liberal cool-aid. Taxing the poor and sparing the billionaires is the liberal/Obama campaign message for the Republicans.
They only way Obama (and liberals) can keep you hoping, believing and voting is to get you to despise others. Class warfare is the only tool they have left. And its working.
Apple should pay the tax just like a good corporate citizen would. If not, they will only use the money to export MORE jobs overseas and we’ll end up with LESS money to run the country.
Apple and Google and the rest of the knew what the rules were when they started doing business overseas…. and those rules say they would have to pay taxes.
No one is going to let me know pay payroll taxes, are they? Whey should Apple and the rest of them get off the hook?
I would support a tax holiday IF AND ONLY IF the money is used on Internal Research and Development (IR&D) that is spent 100% in the U.S. Any other use gets taxed. (Note, no spending the money subcontracting to research labs in the U.S. that subsequently subcontract some of that work to non U.S. organizations.) Every dollar down to the fourth or fith level of subcontract must be spent in the U.S. No exceptions.
I’m trying to figure out what bringing that money back to the US would do that would help the economy. And no trolls from either side please that post talking points. I just can’t see how companies currently running with a certain level of staffing are going to bring that money back in order to hire more people. It doesn’t make business sense.
Or just pay tax and also let individuals hide their personal earnings overseas like they do.
Corporate taxes are nominally low today, and that’s before the gerrymandered tax code is exploited such that corporations offshore their earnings to avoid paying for the infrastructure that the top-paid management and R&D departments use here in the USA.
Is Apple planning to bring production back to the USA? That would be tax-free, since expenses used in company operations are not taxed.
If you want to see where low corporate tax rates take you, look at Ireland. Right behind Greece and Italy in public debt, zero lasting financial progress after their little IT boom. The USA needs to balance its budget, not give away even more gifts to corporations that are for the most part swimming in cash.
If anything, the USA needs MORE taxes. Taxes on gasoline to raise funds to repair our crumbling infrastructure. Taxes on financial transactions conducted by investment banks. Taxes on disposable imported Chinese junk. Yes, that would hit Apple too, but it would be fair and equitable, and it would incentivize local manufacturing again, which is no small factor killing American prosperity. Not every American is going to become a lawyer or doctor or electronics engineer, nor should they. Some people are simply happier working with their hands, and that should not be a sentence to lifelong poverty.
We need laws to force our corporations to serve not only the top-tier compensation demands of their greedy managers, but the investors, employees, and communities too. At this time, there is no trickle-down happening at all.
A tax holiday for the rich to get richer is not going to change this fundamental injustice. And until economic injustice is is corrected such that hard workers at all levels are compensated fairly for an honest 40 hour work week, as opposed to 75% of fiscal rewards and insane compensation packages going to the 2% of managers who dedicate their lives to back-stabbing their way to the top.