A Senate subcommittee has turned the spotlight on Caterpillar Inc.'s overseas tax payments, contending that the giant equipment maker shifted billions in profits to a affiliate based in Switzerland, where taxes are lower than in the U.S.
The panel's chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), released a report on March 31 criticizing Caterpillar's Swiss tax plan. The report stated that from 2000 through 2012, the company allocated more than $8 billion in non-U.S. profits to its Swiss unit and deferred paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes on those earnings.