Washington — The sweeping tax cuts adopted by US lawmakers on Wednesday, while reducing rates on corporations, also aim to encourage multi-national businesses to repatriate huge earnings amassed abroad. US corporations, notably in the tech and pharmaceutical sectors, have, for years, accumulated profits offshore to avoid the comparatively high US tax rates of 35%, although most companies in reality pay much less. The stockpile of cash now stands at about $2.5-trillion, according to the congressional joint committee on taxation. In 2016, for example, Apple stashed more than $200bn abroad, while Microsoft parked $100bn, and Cisco, Oracle and General Electric all followed suit. Some firms resorted to so-called corporate inversions, reverse mergers allowing them to be incorporated in low-tax countries, avoiding the US tax system altogether. Last year, several inversion efforts, including the merger attempt by drug companies Pfizer and Allergan, drew the ire of American officials. By dro...
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