Apple pays 2% tax on overseas profit

Apple has paid less than 2% tax on its overseas profits, documents yesterday showed after the iPad and iPhone giant slashed the amount foreign taxmen receive.

Apple paid $713m (€553.4m) in corporation tax outside the US in the year to Sept 29, despite its foreign pre-tax earnings surging more than 50% to $36.8bn (€28.6m), papers filed with US regulators revealed.

The technology giant’s overseas tax rate fell to 1.9%, compared to 2.5% the previous year and a headline corporation tax rate in the UK of 24% and 35% in the US.