[acchow]

No. Apple has been waiting for the tax holiday because they've seen it before in precedent. The problem is that politicians like the tax holidays because it looks good on them (big capital inflows have an effect on the economy). But if the holiday was eliminated entirely and never expected, Apple would have to slowly repatriate these earnings as their chest grew too large.

[djrogers]

That’s in effect what’s happened here - not only is there a one-time repatriation event, but the tax code has been changed so all future foreign cash holdings will be taxed whether or not hey are repatriated.