Apple used a ¡°complex web¡± of offshore entities ¡ª with no employees or physical offices ¡ª that allowed it to pay little or no taxes on tens of billions it earned overseas, according to a Senate investigation unveiled Monday.

Between 2009 and 2012, the company shielded at least $74 billion in profits from U.S. tax laws by setting up subsidiaries in Ireland under a special arrangement, the report said. While the practice of using foreign operations to avoid U.S. taxes is legal and common among multinationals, Apple¡¯s scheme was unprecedented in its use of multiple affiliates that had no semblance of a physical presence, Senate staffers said.

The electronics giant¡¯s rootless subsidiaries had just one purpose: to funnel much of the company¡¯s global profits and dodge billions of dollars in U.S. tax obligations, according to the report by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.