1- Apple’s CEO is being grilled by Congress today.
2- They don’t want to repatriate foreign profits.
3- They recently initiated a large share buyback.
So why not buy back stock using the foreign proceeds and avoid US taxes? Certainly a broker in London or Hong Kong would fill the order.
The stock would then be held by an overseas entity.
I thought this was interesting and might be of use to the company I work at, so I emailed our VP of Tax about it. He wrote back and indicated that it would be against US tax law. He didn’t provide a cite 
but he’s the head of tax at a Fortune 500 Company, so he probably knows what he’s talking about.
I heard it from the VP of Tax at a Fortune 500 company, it must be true.
You’re right, I apologize for going out of my way to email an expert about a quesiton that a stranger asked me.
Your own contribution was much more helpful.
Moderator Note
robert_columbia and Darth Panda, let’s drop the snark. No warning issued.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator