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I agree that Apple has international operatings allowing them to shift taxes to lower-tax jurisdictions. That's partly how they evade paying taxes. One trick i

I agree that Apple has international operatings allowing them to shift taxes to lower-tax jurisdictions. That's partly how they evade paying taxes. One trick is to park it abroad and lobby for tax-amnesty (a horrible name btw): - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-03/jokowi-seeks-2016-kick-off-for-tax-amnesty-plan-seen-as-flawed http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-03/jokowi-see... - http://archive.fortune.com/2011/02/16/news/companies/repatriation_lobby.fortune/index.htm http://archive.fortune.com/2011/02/16/news/companies/repatri... Another one is to use the money parked abroad (i.e. not yet taxed) to buy expensive things and then write down most of the asset a year or two later. --- "[they] are not loopholes or tax breaks. They're reasonable and sometimes intrinsically necessary tax rules that can be arbitraged in an international system" Sounds exactly like tax-evasion to me! :) --- Also, to be clear, I love capitalism and happen to think that 35% corporate tax is a bit too high (~25 feels reasonable). What I don't like is larger firms having lower rates (unfair) and many countries loosing out on tax revenue with a few 'tax havens' getting loads of tax-revenue while producing nothing of value -- Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, British Virgin Islands, Ireland (to some extent) etc.

adrianratnapala 10y ago
No. That's tax avoidance. Evasion is when you actually don't pay taxes that you legally owe, e.g. by hiding your income. There is some idea that people and companies have a moral duty not to organise their affairs in a tax efficient way. But the laws they lobby for are just what create the distortions.
- sandstrom 10y ago
  I think it's besides the point to discuss the specific definition of avoidance/evasion/planning/etc. Also, many countries has a law that basically says that anything a company does to reduce their amount of taxes without serving a business purpose is illegal. In other words, if don't have a very good reason for why your taxes are paid in the Bahamas when 99% of your sales is outside the Bahamas, it won't fly in court. I think the responsibility is with governments (though I do think many companies act immorally) to provide a fair, simple tax-system and to prohibit and persecute tax evasion/avoidance/etc.

adrianratnapala 10y ago

No. That's tax avoidance. Evasion is when you actually don't pay taxes that you legally owe, e.g. by hiding your income. There is some idea that people and companies have a moral duty not to organise their affairs in a tax efficient way. But the laws they lobby for are just what create the distortions.

sandstrom 10y ago
I think it's besides the point to discuss the specific definition of avoidance/evasion/planning/etc. Also, many countries has a law that basically says that anything a company does to reduce their amount of taxes without serving a business purpose is illegal. In other words, if don't have a very good reason for why your taxes are paid in the Bahamas when 99% of your sales is outside the Bahamas, it won't fly in court. I think the responsibility is with governments (though I do think many companies act immorally) to provide a fair, simple tax-system and to prohibit and persecute tax evasion/avoidance/etc.