Before and after the Republican tax plan was passed, President Trump boasted that under the new law corporations would no doubt bring back the large amounts of cash they have been holding overseas. As a result, went the argument, this could lead to more jobs and higher stock prices in the United States. The jury is still out on whether or not Trump’s promise here will come to fruition. Given a one-time 15.5% repatriation and with 94% of its cash held overseas, however, Apple — the world’s most valuable public company — has become the first company to outline how it will take advantage of the new tax law in the coming years.
According to the New York Times:
The iPhone maker said on Wednesday that it planned a $350 billion contribution to the American economy over the next five years, with some of its new investments coming from bringing back the vast majority of the $252 billion in cash that it has long held abroad.
A provision in the Republican tax plan that was passed last month allows a one-time repatriation of corporate cash held abroad. Apple has 94 percent of its total cash outside the United States.
For years, Apple had said it wouldn’t bring its foreign earnings back to the United States until there were changes in the corporate tax code, because such a move would be too costly.
Apple is now claiming its new investment back home will create 20,000 jobs, increasing their number of employees by nearly 25%, and build a new campus in an area where it has no operations currently. “We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible,” Apple CEO Tim Cook explained. The company also said they expected to pay about $38 billion for its one-time repatriation of cash back to the U.S.
(Via New York Times)