Enlarge / The United States Treasury Department (pictured) sells bonds to investors and corporations. Bloomberg reported that Apple holds $41.7B in US Treasury bonds, the single largest corporate holder. (credit: Eric Gilliland)

Apple has received at least $6 per American taxpayer over the last five years in the form of interest payments on billions’ worth of United States Treasury bonds, according to a Wednesday report by Bloomberg.

Citing Apple’s regulatory filings and unnamed sources, the business publication found “the Treasury Department paid Apple at least $600 million and possibly much more over the past five years in the form of interest.” By taking advantage of a provision in the American tax code, Bloomberg says that Apple has “stashed much of its foreign earnings—tax-free—right here in the US, in part by purchasing government bonds.”

As The Wall Street Journal reported in September, American companies are believed to be holding approximately $2 trillion in cash overseas that is shielded from US taxes. Under American law, companies must pay a 35-percent corporate tax rate on global profits when that money is brought home—so there is an incentive to keep as much of that money overseas as possible.