Obama's push to levy taxes on overseas profits alarms tech giants (Updated)

In the tech industry's first major disagreement with the Obama administration, Silicon Valley companies are voicing alarm about a proposal that could require corporations to pay billions of dollars in US taxes on foreign earnings. The administration wants to change a long-standing law that allows American companies to defer paying these taxes as long as the funds are kept overseas. That could have a big impact on a number of US corporations, especially tech giants such as Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems and Oracle, which report that overseas markets account for half or more of their sales. "It's probably our biggest concern right now. Certainly, it's the biggest issue where we disagree with the Obama administration," said Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president of the Information Technology Industry Council, an industry lobbying group. "On a Richter scale of 1 to 10, this is about a 20," added Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, who is leading a delegation of valley executives to Washington this week. They plan to discuss the deferral proposal and several other issues with federal officials and congressional leaders.

See additional coverage:

President Obama's remarks
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-The-President-On-International-Tax-Policy-Reform/

Leveling the Playing Field: Curbing Tax Havens and Removing Tax Incentives For Shifting Jobs Overseas (White House)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/LEVELING-THE-PLAYING-FIELD-CURBING-TAX-HAVENS-AND-REMOVING-TAX-INCENTIVES-FOR-SHIFTING-JOBS-OVERSEAS/

Obama boosting taxes on multinational corporations (The Hill)
http://thehill.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82100&Itemid=70

Obama vows tougher overseas tax policies (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0334332620090504

Obama Calls for Curbs on Offshore Tax Havens (NYT)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/business/05tax.html?ref=todayspaper

Obama Targets Overseas Tax Dodge (WashPost)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050400703.html