Microsoft, HP skirted taxes via offshore units: Senate panel

Source: Reuters

Technology giants Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co used offshore units to shield billions of dollars from U.S. taxes by taking advantage of loopholes and stretching the limits of the tax code, a U.S. Senate panel said on Thursday.

Describing tax avoidance as rampant in the technology sector, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said tech companies used intellectual property, royalties and license fees in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands to skirt U.S. taxes.

... "The tax practices and gimmicks range from egregious to dubious validity," Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the panel, said at a news conference.

... The committee said that from 2009 to 2011, Microsoft shifted $21 billion offshore, almost half its U.S. retail sales revenue, saving up to $4.5 billion in taxes on goods sold in the United States.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/20/us-usa-taxes-offshore-idUSBRE88J0VY20120920