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Despite the rampant reporting by the media about US companies not paying their "fair share" of taxes, as of 2017: "The biggest taxpayer was the most profitable

Despite the rampant reporting by the media about US companies not paying their "fair share" of taxes, as of 2017: "The biggest taxpayer was the most profitable: Apple, which reserved $15.8 billion for income taxes on $59 billion in operating income. Apple reports its effective tax rate as 25.8%" I think it's time to end this falsehood about Apple as I constantly see it posted on HN.

kbenson 8y ago
Do you have a source on that? The wording on that is odd, which makes me want to look into it. It may be my mistake, but I don't recall corporate taxes often called "income taxes" and it's odd how its referred to as they "reserved" it, instead of quote what was paid. It almost sounds like they are referring to taxes withheld from paychecks for employees, which is definitely not the same as what a company pays in corporate taxes in its profit.
gnicholas 8y ago
If your source is this Forbes article [1], it's referring to Apple's domestic tax rate (this is clear because they compare it to the 35% nominal domestic rate). Their worldwide tax rate is lower. Apple is projecting that its worldwide tax rate will drop to 15% now that the new US tax law has taken effect. [2] 1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2017/04/18/what-americas-biggest-companies-pay-in-taxes/#d06567d2f515 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2017/04/18/wh... 2: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/05/heres-how-much-apple-inc-will-gain-from-tax-reform.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/05/heres-how-much-app...
- dv_dt 8y ago
  What bothers me there is, according to my understanding, that taxation laws were changed in the last cuts so that foreign subsidiaries of corporations basically owe no US income tax on their profits (maybe ok, not sure there), but left alone the case if a US citizen relocates elsewhere and makes an income, only the first $xx,000 dollars are not taxed by the US.
  - gnicholas 8y ago
    Another inequity: corporations can deduct their SALT, but individuals can only deduct $10k of SALT. So many people derided Citizens United (corporate campaign contributions case) as granting personhood to corporations. But the new tax law actually grants more rights to corporations than to people! Of course, I understand that corporations have always been able to do lots of things that people couldn't do, such as enjoy limited liability. But these are very close analogs, and there aren't any compelling policy reasons as to why corporations should get unlimited SALT deductions if people aren't given this privilege.
thisisweirdok 8y ago
It's not a falsehood. I pay a higher tax rate on some of my income than Apple pays on average.
- nodesocket 8y ago
  While I suspect we are going to have different viewpoints, do you employee hundres of thousands of people, contribute massively to the world economy, and innovate like Apple? Just a point, that while their effective percentage may be lower, they have massive impact, and a $59 billion tax payment.

kbenson 8y ago

Do you have a source on that? The wording on that is odd, which makes me want to look into it. It may be my mistake, but I don't recall corporate taxes often called "income taxes" and it's odd how its referred to as they "reserved" it, instead of quote what was paid. It almost sounds like they are referring to taxes withheld from paychecks for employees, which is definitely not the same as what a company pays in corporate taxes in its profit.

gnicholas 8y ago

If your source is this Forbes article [1], it's referring to Apple's domestic tax rate (this is clear because they compare it to the 35% nominal domestic rate). Their worldwide tax rate is lower. Apple is projecting that its worldwide tax rate will drop to 15% now that the new US tax law has taken effect. [2] 1: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2017/04/18/what-americas-biggest-companies-pay-in-taxes/#d06567d2f515 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2017/04/18/wh... 2: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/05/heres-how-much-apple-inc-will-gain-from-tax-reform.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/02/05/heres-how-much-app...

dv_dt 8y ago
What bothers me there is, according to my understanding, that taxation laws were changed in the last cuts so that foreign subsidiaries of corporations basically owe no US income tax on their profits (maybe ok, not sure there), but left alone the case if a US citizen relocates elsewhere and makes an income, only the first $xx,000 dollars are not taxed by the US.
- gnicholas 8y ago
  Another inequity: corporations can deduct their SALT, but individuals can only deduct $10k of SALT. So many people derided Citizens United (corporate campaign contributions case) as granting personhood to corporations. But the new tax law actually grants more rights to corporations than to people! Of course, I understand that corporations have always been able to do lots of things that people couldn't do, such as enjoy limited liability. But these are very close analogs, and there aren't any compelling policy reasons as to why corporations should get unlimited SALT deductions if people aren't given this privilege.

thisisweirdok 8y ago

It's not a falsehood. I pay a higher tax rate on some of my income than Apple pays on average.

nodesocket 8y ago
While I suspect we are going to have different viewpoints, do you employee hundres of thousands of people, contribute massively to the world economy, and innovate like Apple? Just a point, that while their effective percentage may be lower, they have massive impact, and a $59 billion tax payment.