Apples and oranges. "1% or less" is the effective tax rate Apple has historically paid in the EU. 35% (or 25%) is the nominal tax rate Apple is discussing payin

Apples and oranges. "1% or less" is the effective tax rate Apple has historically paid in the EU. 35% (or 25%) is the nominal tax rate Apple is discussing paying in the US. After a bunch of tax avoidance gimmick the nominal 35% rate will be much lower. The US tax code is an outlier in the world in having both a very high corporate tax rate and then also a huge number of ways to avoid actually paying that tax. The Economist has written extensively about this, for example http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21608751-restricting-companies-moving-abroad-no-substitute-corporate-tax-reform-how-stop http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21608751-restricting-c...