Former Treasury Department economist Martin A. Sullivan recently produced a report, cited by the Times, which concludes that Apple skipped out on more than $2.4 billion in taxes (PDF) in 2011 by moving nearly 70 percent of its profits through overseas tax havens and using other tax avoidance strategies. The California-based firm even opened a subsidiary in Nevada just so it can avoid California’s corporate tax rate, and has helped to invent new tax dodging strategies that dozens of other firms now emulate.

Sullivan’s report found that Apple paid an effective tax rate of 9.8 percent last year, on profits of more than $34 billion. The Times noted that Apple’s rate was actually lower than big box retailer Wal-Mart’s, which paid 24 percent on profits of $24.4 billion.