A US senate has alleged that Apple has used a complex web of offshore entities including three foreign subsidiaries to dodge taxes in the country.
The panel has found that one of Apple’s Irish affiliates recorded profits of $30bn between 2009 and 2012 and the company did not pay tax as it was not the local firm.
According to the report, another subsidiary paid a tax rate of 0.05% in 2011 on $22bn in earnings.
Apple claims that three key offshore firms are not tax residents of Ireland, where they are incorporated, or of the US, where its executives manage and control the companies.
Senator Carl Levin said: "Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven.
"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," Levin said.
"We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed."
Apple said it welcomes the opportunity to testify before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in connection with its inquiry into the tax practices of multinational companies.
"Apple welcomes an objective examination of the US corporate tax system, which has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy," the company stated.
