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They are making one of the biggest tax payments in history ($38 billion). Let's stop with the Apple being a tax dodger outrage.

samfisher83 9y ago
38 billion dollars represents about ~1% of the US Taxes. Is it fair to all those people paying 33-40% in taxes?
- nodesocket 9y ago
  Yes it is. This is how corporations work in America. They provide the growth, jobs, innovation. Tim Cook will be the first to reiterate that the new tax law was long overdue and they are enthusiastic about it. Tax reform allows Apple to bring $252 billion in cash that it held abroad back to the United States. That's a huge number. If you're an American you should be ecstatic about this. A rising tide lifts all boats.
  - adventured 9y ago
    It's actually how corporations work in nearly all developed nations today (with a few exceptions such as France and Japan). Sweden has a 20% corporate income tax rate. Finland is at 22%. Denmark is at 24.5%. The UK is at 17.5%. The average rate in Europe is 18%, in Asia it's 20%.
    - samfisher83 9y ago
      https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-income-tax-rates-around-world-2014/ https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-income-tax-rates-around-... It is 26% in europe. Maybe it has changed a lot in the last few years.
  - krrrh 9y ago
    Further to this, corporations are (composed of) people[1]. Apple is paying out dividends this quarter and the shareholders will pay taxes on those dividends. Corporate taxes are an expense to a company that leaves them less money to spend on other expenses, including R&D, hiring, lowering prices, and competing for labor. [1] The “composed of” was obviously what Romney meant in the 2012 campaign, not an obscure argument about corporate personhood.
  - s73ver_ 9y ago
    Nothing was ever preventing Apple from bringing back that cash but greed. While it's good that they're finally going to pay some taxes this one time, no one should be ecstatic about this. They're just going to keep doing the same thing they were doing until they get another tax cut. Meanwhile, education, roads, civil services, all of the things that enable Apple to be as successful as they are, will languish because Apple and apologists don't believe they should help out.
toephu2 9y ago
Correct, but that doesn't mean they are brining the overseas cash ($200B+) back into the U.S. (which I don't care either way)
- nodesocket 9y ago
  That is precisely what they are doing. Read my comment below about repatriation.
  - adventured 9y ago
    Apple never said they were bringing that cash back. They still have never said that. I've read every PR piece they've put out about this, and everything Cook has said about it - not once have they said they're bringing that pile of cash back. They said they would invest $N hundred billion in the US over N years. That almost entirely consists of payments to US suppliers / manufacturers, which comes out of operational cash flow; along with employee base expansion. Who knows how much of the cash they'll repatriate, or when. They might not have even decided on that yet, the ink is still fresh on the tax changes.
    - nodesocket 9y ago
      Actually contrary to what you may have heard from the HN outraged, they are infact bringing cash back; repatriating from foreign accounts. Multiple news agencies reported this, I'll just link to the Fortune[1] article. [1] - http://fortune.com/2018/01/18/apple-overseas-cash-repatriation-gop-tax-plan/ http://fortune.com/2018/01/18/apple-overseas-cash-repatriati...
      - matwood 9y ago
        Heck, Trump even said it in his SOTU.
    - pertymcpert 9y ago
      Why do you say wrong things?
marnett 9y ago
Darn. Us working class tax paying Americans sure will miss paying taxes for them! Glad they have had a change of heart. Perhaps I can sit idle and not pay taxes for a few years while they keep the country running for me.
- CamperBob2 9y ago
  Apple employees pay taxes just as you and I do. The idea that it makes sense to tax the company separately is what should be under scrutiny.
  - s73ver_ 9y ago
    Why? I would think that the idea of the company pushing its tax burden onto its employees is the one that should be under scrutiny.
  - marnett 9y ago
    Companies are persons (legally). Persons pay taxes (legally). Seems pretty reasonable in my book, all the complex legalize aside.
    - CamperBob2 9y ago
      Then we had better prepare ourselves for them to assert all rights of personhood.

samfisher83 9y ago

38 billion dollars represents about ~1% of the US Taxes. Is it fair to all those people paying 33-40% in taxes?

nodesocket 9y ago
Yes it is. This is how corporations work in America. They provide the growth, jobs, innovation. Tim Cook will be the first to reiterate that the new tax law was long overdue and they are enthusiastic about it. Tax reform allows Apple to bring $252 billion in cash that it held abroad back to the United States. That's a huge number. If you're an American you should be ecstatic about this. A rising tide lifts all boats.
- adventured 9y ago
  It's actually how corporations work in nearly all developed nations today (with a few exceptions such as France and Japan). Sweden has a 20% corporate income tax rate. Finland is at 22%. Denmark is at 24.5%. The UK is at 17.5%. The average rate in Europe is 18%, in Asia it's 20%.
  - samfisher83 9y ago
    https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-income-tax-rates-around-world-2014/ https://taxfoundation.org/corporate-income-tax-rates-around-... It is 26% in europe. Maybe it has changed a lot in the last few years.
- krrrh 9y ago
  Further to this, corporations are (composed of) people[1]. Apple is paying out dividends this quarter and the shareholders will pay taxes on those dividends. Corporate taxes are an expense to a company that leaves them less money to spend on other expenses, including R&D, hiring, lowering prices, and competing for labor. [1] The “composed of” was obviously what Romney meant in the 2012 campaign, not an obscure argument about corporate personhood.
- s73ver_ 9y ago
  Nothing was ever preventing Apple from bringing back that cash but greed. While it's good that they're finally going to pay some taxes this one time, no one should be ecstatic about this. They're just going to keep doing the same thing they were doing until they get another tax cut. Meanwhile, education, roads, civil services, all of the things that enable Apple to be as successful as they are, will languish because Apple and apologists don't believe they should help out.

toephu2 9y ago

Correct, but that doesn't mean they are brining the overseas cash ($200B+) back into the U.S. (which I don't care either way)

nodesocket 9y ago
That is precisely what they are doing. Read my comment below about repatriation.
- adventured 9y ago
  Apple never said they were bringing that cash back. They still have never said that. I've read every PR piece they've put out about this, and everything Cook has said about it - not once have they said they're bringing that pile of cash back. They said they would invest $N hundred billion in the US over N years. That almost entirely consists of payments to US suppliers / manufacturers, which comes out of operational cash flow; along with employee base expansion. Who knows how much of the cash they'll repatriate, or when. They might not have even decided on that yet, the ink is still fresh on the tax changes.
  - nodesocket 9y ago
    Actually contrary to what you may have heard from the HN outraged, they are infact bringing cash back; repatriating from foreign accounts. Multiple news agencies reported this, I'll just link to the Fortune[1] article. [1] - http://fortune.com/2018/01/18/apple-overseas-cash-repatriation-gop-tax-plan/ http://fortune.com/2018/01/18/apple-overseas-cash-repatriati...
    - matwood 9y ago
      Heck, Trump even said it in his SOTU.
  - pertymcpert 9y ago
    Why do you say wrong things?

marnett 9y ago

Darn. Us working class tax paying Americans sure will miss paying taxes for them! Glad they have had a change of heart. Perhaps I can sit idle and not pay taxes for a few years while they keep the country running for me.

CamperBob2 9y ago
Apple employees pay taxes just as you and I do. The idea that it makes sense to tax the company separately is what should be under scrutiny.
- s73ver_ 9y ago
  Why? I would think that the idea of the company pushing its tax burden onto its employees is the one that should be under scrutiny.
- marnett 9y ago
  Companies are persons (legally). Persons pay taxes (legally). Seems pretty reasonable in my book, all the complex legalize aside.
  - CamperBob2 9y ago
    Then we had better prepare ourselves for them to assert all rights of personhood.