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There’s Nothing Apple’s CEO Cares About More Than Not Paying Taxes
- yuhong 9y agoI think a compromise to cut US federal taxes to something like 25% is most likely and what I would recommend.
- sambull 9y agoI think we should penalize them and add 10%.
- yuhong 9y agoI am talking about in general.
- shifter 9y agoEnvy much?
- lupinglade 9y agoThis is actually a good idea
- pdog 9y agoAlternative title: there's nothing Apple's CEO cares about more than saving $50 billion for Apple and its shareholders.
- nihonde 9y agoI find it a little mystifying when people act as if revenue earned overseas ought to be contributed to US tax revenue. In the end, that kind of policy would hurt the US at a time when America needs more winners like Apple and less businesses that rely on the tax base to keep their failing concerns afloat.
- metaphorm 9y agoit's still the law of the land. an individual U.S. citizen that earns income abroad still owes U.S. federal income taxes. corporations are granted legal personhood and so are responsible for their taxes in the same way an individual person is.
- toast0 9y agoAn individual that owns shares in a foreign corporation does not owe taxes on any income the corporation generates, unless the income is distributed as a dividend or through capital gains recognized when selling the shares. It's the same for Apple, it's just more convenient for them to structure their overseas activity as an overseas corporation, than it is for most natural persons. (And they got a sweet tax deal from Ireland)
- SomeStupidPoint 9y agoIt would actually be like if I started an overseas corporation, gave it my laptop, and rented myself my work computer for 90% of my income each year, then wrote that off my taxes as a business expense.
- nolite 9y agoOr maybe you should consider the flip side, this law is fundamentally abusive and immoral, and should neither apply to corporations, nor individual citizens...
- metaphorm 9y agooff topic. we can debate the law until we're blue in the face, but it really only matters if Congress is debating the law, not you and I. the reality right now is that that is the law and corporations based in the U.S. go to great lengths to avoid their legal tax burdens.
- actuallyalys 9y agoI think the argument is that a lot of it is only technically overseas revenue because Apple structured itself to avoid taxes: "The company could repatriate its vast offshore holdings — which it’s accumulated deliberately, through years of byzantine tax-dodging schemes..."
- williamle8300 9y agoWhat's wrong with reducing a business' taxes? Aren't tax write-offs there for a reason?
- arcticbull 9y agoBecause society needs the money.
- mproud 9y agoDon’t put this on Tim. This isn’t about Apple. This is about large corporations and tax laws.
- jshute 9y agoHow can you blame them? They're playing by the rules, the same rules their competitors play by (Google also uses the double Irish). In that context, isn't it far better to pay single digit interest rates on money when you're backstopping it with overseas cash rather than taking a 35% haircut to repatriate the same? Finally, what odds do you place on the one time transfer of $88B to the US government with a love note ACTUALLY resulting in a better quality of life for US citizens? It seems to me that regardless of regressive policies and hero projects like walls and Mars trips, monetary policy is still trying to get people and companies to reinvest to spur growth vs. sitting on savings.
- GreaterFool 9y agoAlso, let's not forget that the offshore pile of money has already been taxed in jurisdictions where it was earned. The world is slightly bigger than US. If Apple sells an iPhone in Germany it pays taxes in Germany. It is a bit silly to then send the money home and pay another huge tax on top of it! Yes, I'm aware that thanks to various tax shenanigans the offshore tax bill might be artificially low. If that was the case though, Apple would've cheated local governments and not the US government.
- deepsun 9y ago> If Apple sells an iPhone in Germany it pays taxes in Germany. Not necessarily. See a comment above about New Zealand.
- GreaterFool 9y agoAs I've mentioned in my comment "thanks to various tax shenanigans the offshore tax bill might be artificially low". It would be up to New Zealand to investigate and make sure Apple pays it's due. But I don't see why US needs a slice of that particular pie.
- Oletros 9y ago> Also, let's not forget that the offshore pile of money has already been taxed in jurisdictions where it was earned. No, it hasn't When Apple (or Google) declare losses in a country like Spain something is very weird
- mjbadagliacco 9y agoIt's NOT the governments money! Stop acting like the government is entitled to a dime! Cook is right to do everything possible to avoid paying this over bloated joke of a Constitutional Republic! The founders would be screaming for another revolutions years ago!
- refresh99 9y agoActually many argue that taxes were originally meant only for corporations and not personal income tax since personal income tax was not originally collected. The thought is the profit of those companies are being generated from the efforts of the citizens and corporations are not people. Instead of asking the people to pay more so the fat acts could keep more of the money the corps would fund the govt.
- refresh99 9y agoActually many argue that taxes were originally meant only for corporations and not personal income tax since personal income tax was not originally collected. The thought is the profit of those companies are being generated from the efforts of the citizens and corporations are not people. Instead of asking the people to pay more so the fat acts could keep more of the money the corps would fund the govt.