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At a time when the United States is marred in debate over deficits and debt ceilings, American tech companies are keeping about 70 percent of their cash and short-term investments overseas, according to a report published Monday by Moody's Investors Service.

Many of the companies named in the report have significantly more cash held overseas than in the U.S. Microsoft, for example, is keeping $42 billion of its $50.2 billion abroad, or 83 percent, according to Forbes. Apple has $40.2 billion of its $65.8 billion overseas, or 61 percent. And Oracle has $21.9 billion of its $24.4 billion abroad, or nearly 90 percent of its earnings.

The numbers are part of a rising trend. Four years ago, tech companies only held about 57 percent of their cash overseas, Moody's analyst Richard Lane notes in the report.

By 2013, Lane predicts, major tech companies could hold as much as $238 billion abroad, or 79 percent of their cash balance.

The Moody's report about the tech sector illustrates a wider point about U.S. companies -- namely, that they're holding a lot of cash overseas. In May, JPMorgan released a report that found 519 companies were holding a combined $1.375 trillion abroad, or $2.65 billion per company.

Under current U.S. tax policy, a company that wants to repatriate foreign has to pay a considerable tax on it, with the corporate tax rate reaching as high as 35 percent. This creates a strong disincentive for companies to bring profits back from overseas.

Nevertheless, legislators are looking for ways to get some of that money home.

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written by Alexander Eichler

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