The practical difference is small, since companies already shield most of their foreign profits from American taxes.
There is, after all, at present a certain amount of complaint about the way that corporate America is holding foreign profits offshore.
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This is because a strong yen makes Japanese exports more expensive for foreign buyers, and also cuts the value of exporters' foreign profits.
And Apple has most certainly been keeping those foreign profits out of the US, something which substantially reduces the US corporate income tax bill.
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But as Progressive Policy Institute economist Michael Mandel notes, those foreign profits are already taxed by the countries in which the money is earned.
Which leads to there being a current political movement to offer a tax holiday (or at least a tax discount) on those foreign profits.
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This is because countries that tax companies on worldwide profits do not present the tax bill for foreign profits until these have been repatriated.
Foreign profits brought into the US pay US corporate income tax.
But buying into foreign markets does not mean making foreign profits.
Repatriation of those offshore profits in places like Bermuda and Singapore could allow a large proportion of foreign profits to return home at a deep discount.
There are indeed other ways of running the system but it does look like Apple really does pay only 2% or under on those foreign profits.
Apple and other U.S. corporations have piled up tens of billions of dollars in foreign profits in those units that they are loathe to bring home and subject to U.S. taxes.
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Romney would seek to drop the corporate rate and cease taxing corporations on income earned overseas, which some argue would eliminate the quandary posed by foreign profits being locked up abroad.
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When it comes to corporate taxes, Obama just announced a plan to close tax loopholes that enable U.S.-based companies to keep some of their foreign profits from the greedy hand of the federal government.
Like other U.S. companies, Apple pays an extreme tax penalty for bringing its foreign profits home to invest in the U.S. This is due both to the punitive U.S. tax rate and the fact that the U.S. is virtually alone in refusing to embrace a territorial tax system that applies corporate income taxes only in the jurisdiction where the money is earned.
The good news is that support is growing on both sides of the aisle in Congress for a tax holiday on the repatriation of foreign corporate profits.
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The chancellor's ambition of "fairly" taxing multinationals' UK activities and profits, and imposing a controlled foreign companies charge on profits that in some sense have been "artificially" diverted abroad, is a worthy ambition, many would say.
Putin also cracked down on pro-democracy and foreign non-profits critical of Russian democracy.
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In other words, Pyongyang may try to pocket any profits foreign investors earn.
It provided that dividends, interest, rents and royalties paid by one foreign subsidiary out of its business profits to a related foreign subsidiary are not subject to current U.S. tax (IRC section 954(c)(6)).
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To avoid this, many U.S. companies have kept the profits of foreign subsidiaries offshore.
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When prices were depressed and profits scarce foreign firms had to be lured with generous terms that now rankle.
This all works because the U.S. allows companies to defer U.S. tax on foreign earnings until those profits are returned to the U.S. And many multinationals never bring the money home.
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Indeed, thanks to foreign investment and windfall profits from higher oil prices, a stabilisation fund set up by the government to cushion the country were the economy to sour has grown much more quickly than expected.
Currently, they can defer their U.S. taxes by letting their foreign subsidiaries hang onto their profits.
But even they can no longer protect their loyal staff from falling profits and sharper foreign competition.
Like leaving profits made in foreign countries in those foreign countries so that they are not taxable by Uncle Sam.
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Firms were keen to invest on the back of healthy profits, solid foreign demand and hopes of a pick-up in consumer spending.
Where even if the profits in the foreign trade are higher than the domestic, people will still quite naturally prefer to invest in that domestic trade.
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Third, the United States is one of the few remaining countries (PDF) that has a "worldwide" tax system, meaning that we apply the 35% top rate to the worldwide profits of U.S-based companies: that is, on the profits made by foreign subsidiaries as well.
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