Tim Cook says Apple won't repatriate money to US 'until there's a fair rate'

Apple CEO Tim Cook struck back at critics of the iPhone maker's strategy to avoid paying US taxes, telling The Washington Post in a wide ranging interview that the company would not bring that money back from abroad unless there was a "fair rate."

Along with other multinational companies, the tech giant has been subject to criticism over a tax strategy that allows them to shelter profits made abroad from US taxation.

The move complies with the letter of the law, if not the spirit, as a few particularly strident critics have lambasted Apple as a tax dodger. The nonprofit Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that big companies have parked more than US$2 trillion offshore, which is subject to more favorable tax rates.

However, in response to a question from The Post, Cook acknowledged that Apple was effectively taking advantage of a massive tax loophole, which he said was perfectly legal." "The tax law right now says we can keep that [profit] in Ireland or we can bring it back."

It's not as if the tech giant is exactly hurting for cash. Apple is sitting on at least US$200 billion in cash on hand, a pile of money that some investors have called on the company to re-invest.

Cook added that "when we bring it back, we will pay 35 per cent federal tax and then a weighted average across the states that we're in, which is about five per cent, so think of it as 40 per cent. We've said at 40 per cent, we're not going to bring it back until there's a fair rate. There's no debate about it."