Apple Inc. sought tax loopholes

NEW YORK — Apple Inc. revamped its overseas subsidiaries to take advantage of tax loopholes on the European island of Jersey after a crackdown on Ireland’s loose rules began in 2013, according to The New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The newspaper and the investigative organization cited confidential records that were obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. The cache of 13 million documents came from Appleby, a Bermudabased law firm that helps businesses and wealthy individuals find tax shelters.

The New York Times said Apple has $128 billion in offshore profits not taxed by the U.S.

Apple said in response that the reports contained various “inaccuracies.” For instance, the company said its 2015 corporate reorganization was “specially designed to preserve its tax payments to the United States, not to reduce its taxes anywhere else.”

The California-based company said it is the largest taxpayer in the world, paying $35 billion in corporate income tax over the last three years, including $1.5 billion in Ireland. It said it pays an effective tax rate of 21 per cent on foreign earnings.

It said that it told U.S. and European regulators of the reorganization of its Irish subsidiaries in 2015 and said the moves did not reduce its tax payments in any country.