https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/8/16746034/apple-gop-tax-bill
Richard Waters and Tom Braithwaite at the Financial Times ran the numbers yesterday and found that the Republican tax plan's largest single winner is going to be Apple, which stands to reap a windfall of about $47 billion. For a sense of scale, that would cover four years' worth of the federal tab for the Children's Health Insurance Program which provides coverage to 9 million kids but is currently on hiatus since congressional Republicans say they can't find the money.
What's particularly striking about this windfall is that though Apple has been a fierce advocate for corporate tax reform — $47 billion is a lot of money after all — Apple CEO Tim Cook has explained over and over again that shoveling billions into his corporate treasury won't boost his investment spending.
Interest rates are low these days, and interest payments are tax deductible — and Apple keeps a lot of its balance sheet cash on the books of subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens. Apple's cash-management game is to bide its time until it gets a tax windfall (i.e., soon, if Republicans get their way) and then kick the windfall out to shareholders in the form of dividends or buybacks. It's an important part of their overall corporate strategy, but it has nothing to do with investment.