(Changes dateline to Sept 20 from 19)
Sept 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked companies such as Dow Chemical Co , Fortune Brands Inc , Caterpillar Inc and CIT Group Inc to disclose the amount of cash they hold offshore, the Financial Times reported.
The move comes amid increased attention towards the impact of tax rules that encourage U.S. companies to keep earnings overseas, the paper said.
The SEC decided to focus on the issue of overseas cash more broadly after disclosures at Microsoft Corp and Google Inc earlier this year prompted interest in the subject, people familiar with the matter told the FT.
The U.S. government taxes U.S. businesses on income earned worldwide, but allows them to defer taxes on the money until it is brought back to the United States. As a result, American corporations like to keep the money abroad, particularly as they increase investment overseas.
U.S. companies do not have to break out earnings in foreign subsidiaries, making it difficult to determine from financial filings the amount of tax they save through each jurisdiction.
The SEC, however, raises questions through its public comment letters when it believes further information may be relevant and material to understanding a company's liquidity, the paper said.
"Generating cash outside of the U.S. is the result of being a global company operating in a global economy," Jim Dugan, Caterpillar's chief corporate spokesman, said.
About 70 percent of Caterpillar's business last year came from outside the United States, Dugan said, adding that the cash generated offshore reflected normal business activities.
The remaining parties could not be reached immediately for comment outside regular business hours in the United States. (Reporting by Gowri Jayakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Matt Driskill and David Holmes)
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