A group of tech, pharmaceutical and energy giants — including Apple — is readying a major lobbying blitz for a tax holiday that would allow them to bring home the estimated $1 trillion they’ve got parked overseas at a steeply discounted rate, according to “Fortune” (http://macte.ch/kY9Zo).
Quoting “sources close to the effort,” the article says Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Duke Energy and Pfizer are among the major players looking to bankroll a coordinated, sustained pitch to sell policymakers on the idea. Their goal: win a one-year tax amnesty on their foreign earnings, allowing them to repatriate that money at a tax rate of about 5%, instead of the 35% they face now.
The push is timed to coincide with the start of a debate on an overhaul of the corporate tax code, and the companies are hoping to include the holiday in any reform package that moves forward, says “Fortune.” However, if the broader reform effort stalls, the companies will probably try to move their plan separately, the article adds.