Free Republic

WASHINGTON - A loophole in the new U.S. tax law could allow multinational corporations like Apple Inc to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on profits stashed overseas, according to experts. Stemming from a Republican overhaul of international business taxes, the loophole involves the tax rates - 15.5 percent or 8 percent - that companies must pay on $2.6 trillion in profits they are holding abroad. By manipulating their foreign cash positions, a determining factor under the new law, a U.S. multinational could potentially save money by shifting profits to the lower rate from the higher one, according to...

Private utilities jockey for public funds Machado maneuver highlights fears of growing donor influence By Cheryl Miller and Will Shuck Record Staff Writers Published Sunday, July 13, 2003 One week after he rewrote an existing bill to include provisions favorable to private water suppliers, state Sen. Michael Machado accepted a hefty campaign donation from Southern California Water Co., a potential beneficiary of the altered legislation. Machado, D-Linden, the chairman of the powerful Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, insisted the $20,000 donation was not tied to his decision to amend SB909, which, as written, would have allowed investor-owned water utilities to...