Apple, IBM and Microsoft lead US tax-avoiding spree

Tech trio accounted for 18 per cent of increase in profits stockpiled abroad

Apple, IBM and Microsoft have been picked out as some of the main culprits of stockpiling profits abroad in order to avoid huge tax bills, according to Bloomberg.

Last year, the largest US firms collectively added an extra $206bn (£123.95bn) to their offshore profit stockpiles based in low-tax countries.

Together the firms racked up a total of $1.95tn in profits stored outside of the US – up 11.8 per cent from the year before.

Of that increase, 18.2 per cent – $37.5bn – came from Apple, IBM and Microsoft collectively.

Bloomberg came to the figures after studying 307 companies' filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

It claimed that in the past three years, Microsoft's profits held offshore have more than doubled, while Apple's have quadrupled over the same period.

It is not the first time the duo have come under fire for its tax practices. Back in 2012, the pair – along with HP and Google – were singled out by a US Senate committee for relying on various "loopholes and gimmicks" year after year to avoid paying taxes.