Apple is reportedly on track to double the amount of money that it spends lobbying politicians this year. The increase in spending comes as the iOS device maker is coming under increasing fire in Washington for alleged tax avoidance.
Apple could spend $ 4 million lobbying politicians on the Hill, twice what the company spent last year and more than 20 times the $ 180,000 it spent in 1999, according to Reuters.
Currently, U.S. corporations are holding upwards of $ 1.5 trillion in profits offshore in order to avoid the 35% corporate income tax the repatriation of the funds would cost. Apple holds about 6.7% of that sum.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in his testimony on the Hill earlier this week that the company will not be bringing it’s foreign cash pile back to the U.S. as long as taxes remain as they are currently. The company is showing signs of putting its considerable muscle behind pushing corporate taxes downward.
“They are very, very tactical,” an unnamed former Apple lobbyist told Reuters. “They only join issues they really care about.”
Aside from taxes, Apple would most likely also lobby Congress on environmental and import issues, along with broadband and other technology issues.
While Apple doubling its lobbying to $ 4 million in 2013 may seem like a big move, its spending doesn’t even approach that of other technology firms. Four million is just about what Facebook spent on lobbying last year, however Oracle spent around 50% more than that, and Microsoft spent double that amount. The largest lobbying spender in 2012 was Apple rival Google, which spent $ 18.2 million lobbying Congress.
