Apple Kept Billions Out of IRS' Reach: Probe

A Senate inquiry into Apple has accused the company of keeping billions out of the reach of the IRS through tax havens and a complex network of overseas subsidiaries. The company runs its non-American operations through affiliates based in Ireland, which has a low tax rate. However, investigators say many have no employees and are effectively run out of California, the New York Times reports. Additionally, its top offshore holding company, Apple Operations International, doesn't have an official tax residence at all, and hasn't filed a tax return on $30 billion in profits earned from 2009 to 2012, says Politico.

All told, the company has kept at least $74 billion out of the IRS' reach, the inquiry found, per the Times. "Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven," said one senator. "Apple sought the holy grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars while claiming to be tax resident nowhere." Apple has not commented, but CEO Tim Cook will face a Senate hearing tomorrow, where he is expected to argue that, "Apple does not use tax gimmicks," and that the US should overhaul its tax code. (More Apple stories.)