“Untaxed offshore stockpiles” of profits held by the largest US firms, such as Apple, Google and Microsoft, rose 14 per cent year-on-year, or $183 billion, in 2012, standing at a total of $1.46 trillion, according to Bloomberg.

The figures underscore how offshore finance, and the controversies surrounding it, is far more than just an issue for high net worth individuals and their advisors.

The build-up of offshore profits - the news service measured 83 companies - is rising because the US corporate tax code encourages firms to book profits outside the US, the report said. The ability to defer US taxes until profits are brought home, the ease of shifting profits to low-tax countries and the world’s highest statutory corporate rate have all contributed to the growing stockpiles outside the US.

While campaign groups such as the Tax Justice Network condemn such practices, defenders such as the CATO Institute, a  US-based think tank, point out that such “tax competition” is healthy for the global economy overall if it encourages governments such as those of the US to keep taxes lower than otherwise would be the case. The US levies a relatively high corporate tax rate of 40 per cent while in the UK, for example, it is 24 per cent, and in Ireland, it is 12.5 per  cent (source: KPMG).

The news report said that according to JP Morgan, all US-based companies had $1.7 trillion in accumulated offshore profits.

Other firms mentioned as having large offshore sums are General Electric; Pfizer; International Business Machines; Merck & Co, and Johnson & Johnson.

In the UK, there have been calls to abolish corporation tax completely as the tax is ultimately borne by individuals anyway. The 2020 Tax Commission, a group campaigning for simpler taxes in the UK, last year called for corporate taxes to be replaced by a 30 per cent tax on interest, dividends and rent.