Here’s Where Apple Inc. (AAPL) Pays the Most in Foreign Taxes

2. Netherlands
The Netherlands weigh in with the lowest tax rate among the top five tax-gathering countries for U.S. multinationals, coming in just under 20%. But the nation remains a popular place to earn income, with its $46.19 billion in taxable income topping the list of nations worldwide. Apply those tax rates, and you’ll get a total of $9.16 billion in foreign taxes paid.

1. United Kingdom
The U.K. doesn’t attract the most taxable income, but its higher tax rates lead to the most tax being paid, at $9.22 billion. With average taxes of 24%, multinationals have about $38.39 billion in taxable income within the British Empire’s borders.

$100 billion in taxes
All told, the Tax Foundation analysis found that U.S. multinationals pay more than $100 billion in foreign taxes in various jurisdictions around the world. That won’t necessarily make outraged individuals in the U.S. any happier, especially because the U.S. foreign tax credit system allows companies to reduce their U.S. tax by the amount of foreign taxes paid in some instances. But as a matter of fairness, the real question is whether companies actually earn income in those jurisdictions, rather than simply setting up business entities whose only purpose is to serve as a tax haven. Only once countries work together to close loopholes and move corporate tax rates toward parity will multinationals have less incentive to make tax-motivated corporate maneuvers.

The article The 5 Countries Where Apple and Its Peers Pay the Most in Foreign Taxes originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger owns shares of Apple. You can follow him on Twitter @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Starbucks, and Statoil. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Starbucks.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.