The top tax rate that U.S. companies would pay on an estimated $3.1 trillion in earnings they've stockpiled overseas crept up to 15.5 percent in the final version of the GOP tax bill released Friday.

President Donald Trump had initially called for a top rate around 10 percent for companies' offshore profits, but as GOP lawmakers searched for revenue to offset the cost of other tax cuts, one of the sources they settled on was multinationals' offshore cash.

Under the GOP tax plan that's headed for votes in the House and Senate next week, earnings that companies hold offshore as cash and cash equivalents would be taxed at 15.5 percent. Income invested in less-liquid assets—including plants and equipment—would be taxed at 8 percent. Both taxes would be mandatory, not optional.

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