“Members of the United States Senate are expected to sharply criticize Apple’s global tax tactics while questioning the company’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday,” Charles Duhigg and David Kocieniewski report for The New York Times. “Apple, one of the most profitable companies in American history, has shielded billions of dollars from tax collectors around the globe by moving revenue to offshore subsidiaries and taking advantage of tax loopholes, according to company documents and tax experts.”
MacDailyNews Take: Prove it, yellow journalist swine.
Duhigg and Kocieniewski report, “Apple has more than $100 billion in cash assigned to foreign subsidiaries, where it is not taxed by the United States. Some of those subsidiaries, though technically lodged in Europe, are fully controlled by Apple’s executives in Cupertino, Calif.”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, where’s the proof of lawbreaking, you ham-handed hacks?
Duhigg and Kocieniewski report, “When Mr. Cook and other top-ranking Apple executives appear tomorrow before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, lawmakers are expected to question them on Apple’s use of tax loopholes and shell companies to escape paying corporate income taxes on much of its profit.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Operations International (AOI) is not a shell company. The existence of AOI does not reduce Apple’s U.S. tax liability.
Duhigg and Kocieniewski report, “Mr. Cook is expected to tell lawmakers that Apple is the largest corporate income taxpayer in the United States, according to a copy of his testimony posted online by the company. Apple, according to that testimony, paid nearly $6 billion in federal taxes last year, and ‘does not use tax gimmicks.’ Moreover, Mr. Cook is expected to call for a sweeping reform of the federal corporate tax code. In particular, he will call for lowering rates on companies moving overseas earnings back to the United States. ‘What he’s asking for is a reward for having gamed the system,’ said Edward D. Kleinbard, the former chief of staff at the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, and now a law professor at the University of Southern California.”
MacDailyNews Take: Or, Cook is simply be asking for a sane, logical corporate tax policy, as opposed to the pile of shit buried under a mountain of red tape that the U.S. currently offers those who power the economy and ultimately the obscenely-bloated, unsustainable U.S. federal government itself.
Duhigg and Kocieniewski report, “The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Senators Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has been investigating technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, for years over complaints that such firms are taking advantage of an outdated tax code.”
Full article – Think before You Click™ – here.
MacDailyNews Take: How much have these oh-so-important “investigations” (campaign commercials) cost taxpayers vs. how much, if anything, they have generated in additional tax revenues for these myopic ignoramuses to blow on pet pork barrel projects that are designed primarily to get them perpetually re-elected?
Term limits. (Oops, now we’ve done it – better get the esteemed Senators some new shorts.)
Oh, BTW: The U.S. Senate investigation found no evidence that Apple did anything illegal in avoiding taxes.
Related articles:
Google whistleblower reveals massive tax avoidance scheme; ready to hand over 100,000 emails to UK authorities – May 19, 2013
UK lawmakers challenge Google’s ‘smoke and mirrors’ on tax – May 16, 2013
U.S. Senate investigation found no evidence that Apple did anything illegal in avoiding taxes – May 20, 2013
Apple publishes full testimony to be given before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee – May 20, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook to propose ‘dramatic simplification’ of U.S. corporate tax laws – May 18, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook to propose U.S. tax reform for offshore cash – May 17, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook goes on offense in Washington D.C. over $100 billion offshore cache – May 16, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook at Senate Permanent Subcommittee over Apple’s offshore tax practices – May 15, 2013
Study: U.S. companies’ overseas earnings hit record $1.9 trillion – May 8, 2013
Unlike the US tax code, Apple is perfectly rational – May 7, 2013
Apple Inc.’s taxdodging ways – May 5, 2013
Apple, corporate taxes, and The New York Slimes – May 2, 2013
Apple avoids potential $9 billion U.S. tax bill – May 2, 2013
Debt-free Apple to take on debt to avoid huge U.S. repatriation tax hit – April 26, 2013
Apple’s massive $100 billion capital return program is a perfect tax arbitrage – April 26, 2013
Apple to tap a hungry debt market; strong demand likely from investors eager to get cash off sidelines – April 25, 2013
Debt-free Apple plans to borrow to finance massive capital-return program – April 23, 2013
Apple beats Street on EPS and revenue; ups quarterly dividend by 15%; ups buybacks to $60 billion – April 23, 2013
Apple paid $6 billion in U.S. federal income taxes, 1/40th of all corporate income taxes collected by U.S. government in 2012 – January 5, 2013
Google, Apple, eBay shouldn’t pay taxes – people should pay taxes – November 25, 2012
So how much did Apple really pay in taxes? – November 1, 2012
Apple’s showdown with the U.S. government over taxes on offshore cash – July 13, 2012
Apple‘s $74 billion tops list of U.S. tech companies’ overseas cash – July 9, 2012
Apple’s dividend move puts spotlight on foreign cash holdings, repatriation tax reform – March 20, 2012
Apple: Good start; and what about the overseas cash? – March 19, 2012
Apple’s foreign cash hoard piles up: $54 billion and rapidly growing – January 11, 2012
Senator John McCain eyes Apple’s $54 billion overseas cash pile – November 3, 2011
Google joins Apple in push for U.S. repatriation tax holiday – October 3, 2011
Apple lobbies Obama for tax holiday, wants to bring overseas bounty home – August 24, 2011
U.S Senate Democrat Schumer allies with Apple, other multinationals on repatriation tax talks – June 21, 2011
U.S. companies push for tax break on foreign cash – June 20, 2011
Apple, Oracle, Duke Energy, others organize lobbying blitz for tax holiday – February 17, 2011
New York Times? That’s all I need to know. Might as well be written by Spanky and Alfalfa.
Don’t insult Sparky and Alfalfa. They would fact check their story’s and are just amateurs. These clowns are supposedly professionals.
Writer sounds anti-government. Careful your going to get audited.
You’re.
Pro-smaller government and/or advocating for states rights is not “anti-government.” It’s just common sense. One size doesn’t fit all. Your tax dollars can be better, more efficiently, more effectively utilized by those closer to the those who the monies are intended to benefit.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to decide to live in any state of the union … Union … and have equality of education, roads, parks, etc.
Be careful about “states rights”. Advocates want this because they don’t want their money going to another state in a federal program.
The passage of any bill in current forms that increase states rights would do exactly why the confederacy wanted. What ‘we the people’ fought so hard against.. A UNION. A place where we can call “home” where equality and standards for much of the necessities of life are consistent across a large and rich landscape.
Yes there is huge federal waste. Yes there are huge inefficiencies.(I have stood in long lines). But when states get involved its much worse (look at voting practices for wvidence).
I love our government. I love the protections and liberties it offers.
If you don’t like it, GET INVOLVED.
Love yourself, love your neighbor, live the fact we can all argue about this without going to jail.
I currently live in a country that if you speak publicaly, the police will come take you to jail. In this regard, I miss my homeland.
Be careful what you wish for.
Fought “for”… Type-o (among other type-o’s)
“I currently live in a country that if you speak publicaly, the police will come take you to jail.”…
Like in America… Like in California… Buddy we are already there!
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/09/27/anti-muslim-filmmaker-arrested
True. But you must admit there are far worse places than California.
And they don’t have California girls either.
“I love our government. I love the protections and liberties it offers.
If you don’t like it, GET INVOLVED.”…
Kind of hard with corrupt government agencies!
http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/2013/05/liberal-groups-were-getting.html
I’m sure all of the Senators on the committee will have volunteered to pay higher tax rates, never legally sheltered offshore gains, never took advantage of any “tax loopholes” (otherwise known as the U.S. Tax Code).
Let the hypocrisy begin . . . .
They certainly are not going to “castigate” Google, even though they, unlike Apple, practice shady tax evasion schemes (such as recently uncovered).
This is partly because Google pays to lobbyists two orders of magnitude more money than Apple does.
There was an article referencing Google avoiding paying taxes on MDN yesterday. Or did you miss that one? The Senate committee is going after Apple because Apple is the biggest company out there. That’s really not too difficult to understand. So it’s not some conspiracy. If Apple isn’t doing anything illegal it will be so determined. And certainly announced by Apple. But let’s face it, it seems that this is about tax avoidance not anything illegal. Apparently it’s about the extreme means that US corporations go to to avoid paying taxes. Legal but perhaps not popular with the average US taxpayer. I believe this is more of a “shame on you” than anything else. If they were going after Google would you be defending them? Costco? Microsoft? Seagate? Ford? Are you looking at this objectively like an adult or are you looking at this from a fanboys’ perspective?
Apple should have seen this coming. No government can look at a company as wealthy as Apple and not lust for all that money. Apple may be a big dog in the tech world, but against the Feds Apple is outclassed. Apple cannot beat an opponent who writes the rules, umpires the game, and enforced the penalties. Not to mention has a standing army, nuclear weapons, NSA, IRS, and extraordinary rendition.
Agreed!
‘What he’s asking for is a reward for having gamed the system’
Yeah, Mr. And Ms. Congress Person. Kind of like exempting yourselves from all the laws you pass covering the rest of the populace (healthcare, et.at., anyone?)
Pot calling the kettle black!
They will not be satisfied until they have ground Apple into applesauce and made it into another “Government Motors” (GM). Maybe Apple Corporation will relocate to Ireland after the so-called “testimony” in front of the Pharisees and Sadducees in the District of Criminals (DC).
I still own a Mac tower that was built in Ireland, once upon a time. That can happen again, so I say, Senators, with all due respect, put a Cork in it.
Folks. Read what actually was said. Apple has been using Ireland to avoid taxes to any country. Not just US, any country. In 2011the Ireland-based Apple Sales International, which sells iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other products to overseas distributors, recorded $22 billion in pretax earnings, but paid $10 million in taxes, investigators found. That works out to a rate of about .05%. Come on guys, think about that. 0.05% Wow.
Before you post, consider getting familiar with euro- tax rules. One should know the rules before questioning the euro ref.
Big deal, what they did was legal. Nothing wrong at all.
This is a great distraction from the three scandals of the Obama administration:
1. Bengazi
2. IRS harassment
3. AP harassment
If “W” had done any of these things, the press would have been screaming about it for months on the front page of every newspaper. Instead they talk about Angelina and Ke$ha and hope for a natural disaster to distract everyone.
Watergate was a mere sideshow compared to this attack on the press.
W would have had us bombing Syria, Iran, and North Korea. On other words, destroying us.
The Syrian regime deserves bombing. Syria is like pre WWII Germany. Many new what the Nzai’s were doing but ignored it resulting in genocide, which is in essence happening in Syria today.
No, moron boy-troll. This is news relevant to this site, about Apple Inc.
Unlike your post, which is nothing more than a festering turd dropped out of yet another nonsensical far-right a$$hole who needs to turn off Fox News and consider a different view than the one being spoon-fed by the Republican Party, who has done everything possible to impede progress since W went his merry way in 2008, laughing at us all for being stupid enough to elect Gilligan to the White House, not once, but twice.
Have a nice day!
You mean, like wiretapping US citizens without a warrant.
Like many partisans on either side, you are unable to actually discuss an issue with regard to facts.
1. wake me when there is a development not already covered in the original report
2. clearly the IRS overstepped, but no conservative group was denied tax free status…but 1 or 3 liberal groups was
3. uh…”harassment”?!?! This was a legal search of phone records, ie #’s called, time of call, and length of call. The AP was not wiretapped nor were the parties harassed. BTW, this was done to find a leak that the GOP wanted to find.
Also, there were at least incidents of 1 under Bush.
This is ludicrous!
In the current tax system, the consumer pays for a huge government bureaucracy that tries to choose the winners and losers – but whose end result only steals from productivity. It’s all about the power government can grab rather than the power of the individual it is supposed to be protecting. Corporations are made up of individuals like you and I, whether it be via our investments, or our jobs, etc. We are all getting taxed multiple times. When the government “socks it to big business”, it is socking it to us.
There should be no corporate tax. 0%. Then we wouldn’t be chasing corporations from our shores. Corporations stay and we’ll all benefit. Corporations leave and find greater freedom than in the U.S., we all lose.
As long as we the people want to pass the buck of responsibility for their lives and have someone watch over us and take care of us, we’ll keep on electing government officials with this kind of mentality. We’ll keep living with a false sense of security until it’s all ripped out from beneath us.
And you can just forget about having corporations that produce products like Apple does at that point.
Time for a FairTax system (fairtax.org).
Let’s review:
Apple paid all its taxes.
Some politicians want Apple to pay more because, well… because.
Got it.
Senator Levin is in the middle of a press announcement bitch slapping Apple all over the place. Boy, it could really be ugly tomorrow. That tiny run-up that you saw today in AAPL may be a distant memory after Tuesday. Tim had better be prepared for this panel of senators. They’ll be out for blood. AAPL could be hit hard. I can only imagine what the New York Times and Bloomberg reporters will do with this! Oh boy.
Yes Sander Levin of Michigan, home of Guvment Motors the recipient of huge taxpayer bailout and which still owes the taxpayers billions. GM’s 10Q shows deferred income taxes. I suspect that it also has “offshore” cash which has not been subjected to taxes actual payment of taxes. Why not have Samedung testify as to how they have made billions in the US and paid no US income taxes. I doubt they pay much in Korean income taxes either.
The Senators’ research staff and strategic advisors need to be very, very careful in this re-electivity minefield. No sane person wants to open a can of worms, especially grandstanding stooges whose own activities may have been funded in a questionable manner.
You aren’t saying that the senator would’ve done anything underhanded would you? That would make him a hypocrite. Have you ever known a politician to be a hypocrite? Me too.
Meanwhile, the 2012 Presidential Campaign saw more than $2B spent. http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/12/presidential_election_becomes.html
I’m aware the two aren’t really related except for the closeness and the dollar sign and the capital B signifying billions. But it is definitely a head shaker that the most profitable technology company this country has can pay $6B in taxes while two candidates spend a third of that on their campaigns. And some folks whine that Apple should pay more in taxes because it would help build schools and provide for the needy.
What if, next presidential campaign, a candidate were to raise $1B and instead of spending it on mud-slinging attack ads were to spend it on hospitals for needy and shelter and food? Would doing so garner more press (and more credibility) than the same money spent on ads?
Cough up Apple.
no…turn your head and then cough up, Apple.
The dividends that Apple has been paying for some months now are taxed at 15% in the hands of a Canadian shareholder, for example. All the dividend related revenue from non U.S. sources is taxed by the U.S. even though over 60% (?) of Apple’s sales are outside the U.S. All the dividend income is shown as personal income, not corporate, and is for some reason not included in the discussion of Apple’s contribution to the u.S. federal government’s taxes. Dividends are paid out of after-corporate tax revenues, and are taxed again in the hands of shareholders, i.e. the revenues are taxed twice. This is a good reason for foreigners not to hold U.S. stocks. Apple should split the company into a U.S. and non U.S. based business. This reader’s suggestion is that they base this in Canada, which has lower corporate tax rates.
Precisely.
The U.S.Constitution is being shredded, AP journalists bugged and opposition political groups harrassed — while the press looks the other way and does its unprecedented best to offer support (polls).
Ever notice how the press makes excuses and alternative arguments during Democrat administrations and pooh-poohs outrage from the other side of the aisle.
On the flip side of that coin, they hold Republicans feet to the fire on every minutiae on the front page, editorial page and columnist articles as long as it takes until heads roll …
The U.S.Constitution is being shredded
Indeed. But don’t expect EITHER of our worthless political parties to stop it. One of my state senators, Kirsten Gillibrand, was a SPONSOR of the PIPA bill, the Senate equivalent of the SOPA bill, which was a blatant attack on both 1st and 4th Amendment US constitutional rights by our Corporate Oligarchy. I joyfully contributed to putting a fire under her stupid ass. UNFORGIVABLE. And no, I didn’t vote for her in the election that followed.
IOW: Death to BOTH US political parties. Both are bought, paid for, PWNed. ;?
Smiley Police. Please read: 😕
When I’m paid I pay taxes. When I buy something I pay taxes. When I save money and earn interest I pay taxes. When indies I pay taxes. I wonder how long before these politicians will figure out a way to tax us for being buried and taking up space in the ground. I’ll opt for cremation. 😉
iOS lol. ” When I die!
“My advice for those who die: declare the pennies on your eyes — ’cause I’m the Tax Man. Yeah, I’m the Tax Man, and you’re working for no one but me.” — George Harrison
all you American hating tea baggers should read the 40 pages before sounding off. You can bet your sweet asses that Apple will pay dearly in the court of opinion. Fanboy cheerleaders can harp all they want, but it is clear that to the normal person Apple has been cheating on taxes. How they decided that the earnings belonged to no company, no country boggle the mind. Bitch and moan but tomorrow morning APPL is going to hurt big time. Googlers must be very happy tonight.
Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter
when they come at you from CUPOJOE.
I’ve known and worked with Apple all my adult life. I suppose anyone could turn out to be shabby, duplicitous, meretricious, or criminal. Unlike the obnoxious life-sucking lampreys jumping on this publicity bandwagon, however, I’ll withhold judgement until after the congressional report; even then, I may discard it into the same landfill that houses the Warren Commission Report and other masterpieces of political fiction authored by high-titled but despicable political representatives. Why the Hell did we vote for those fools, anyway? Could it be that we are the fools?
it is clear that to the normal person Apple has been cheating on taxes
WRONG. It may be clear to people IGNORANT of the tax code. But hopefully such IGNORANT people aren’t ‘normal’. But in these days of a sabotaged US school system, who knows.
And no trolls. It doesn’t take a fanboi to notice the idiocy of our government regarding anything technology, including Apple. As already stated above by MDN:
Oh, BTW: The U.S. Senate investigation found no evidence that Apple did anything illegal in avoiding taxes.
John Sculley is on CNBC commenting about Apple. Did a nice job. Honest objective appraisal from Sculley. Very fair, very professional. No negative comments at all.
Points for honesty
“MacDailyNews Take: Prove it, yellow journalist swine.”
“MacDailyNews Take: Again, where’s the proof of lawbreaking, you ham-handed hacks?”
“MacDailyNews Take: Or, Cook is simply be asking for a sane, logical corporate tax policy, as opposed to the pile of shit buried under a mountain of red tape that the U.S. currently offers those who power the economy and ultimately the obscenely bloated U.S. federal government itself.”
Now I understand the heavy presence of ultra-conservative comments on this website. Yes, tax loop-holes are legal, that’s the problem. It allows corporations to legally pay less than what they should. Otherwise why would these corporation have all this cash offshore along with many, many blue and white-collar jobs.
They make the money offshore. Is there something you don’t understand about that?
Educate me; you’re saying Apple pays income tax in those foreign countries? Since Apple is an American company based and incorporated in the US, it owes taxes on all its sales to the US.
No.
Good, I would hate to think Apple is paying income tax to 13 foreign governments instead of the US. Oh wait, Apple isn’t paying those income taxes on a portion of it’s sales to the US or anyone else as long as they keep it on foreign. soil. That’s fair, not.
Ok, be educated. They do pay foreign taxes in foreign jurisdictions where the money is earned.
The US is also one of the few countries that imposes full Domestic income tax on foreign-earned profits when they are repatriated. This is why the repatriation issue is such a big deal. American companies are asking for the same treatment that their foreign competitors get from their home countries
I am really annoyed that the senators are not investigating the stupid tax system that they set up. How hard is it to come up with a flat corporate tax system with no loopholes: every company pays the same rate. Oh, that’s right, such a system would make unnecessary lobbying and political contributions to gain preferential treatment.
bjr, if it’s legal (“tax loop-holes are legal”) then why do they allow corporations to pay less than they should?
I’m almost old enough to vaguely remember when Democrats understood that the government was a bloated, bureaucratic, swamp of waste and corruption. When the Democrat Party fell in love with centralized control is when they totally lost their way. You used to fight the government. You used to value freedom. Remember? Hope you somehow manage to find your way back someday, guys and gals.
And as usual, F-T leaves out the fact that the vast majority of government debt during good economic times was perpetrated by his pals, the ‘Republicans’. It was the GW Bush administration that held the all-time-record debt. So much for ‘smaller government.’ The Bush League then managed the worst economic crisis in 80 years, forcing the Democrats (who were the last party to actually BALANCE the government budget) to spend like maniacs in their blunderbuss attempt to revive the economy again.
IOW: Just more F-T ignorance and/or propaganda. Nothing new here. I just enjoy pointing out facts in the face of bullshit on occasion.
MDN you want Term Limits (final MDN take)? No need to change the law. Just convince the majority of Americans to never ever vote for an incumbent. Instant term limits!
I don’t care who it is, I never vote for incumbents these days. I’d vote for a mass murder over a priest if the priest were an incumbent.
What about mass-murdering priests?
MDN comments and points of views have been shared with us and we trust that you are looking forward to your audit.
Sincerely,
IRS
Last I checked Apple had a 2-term President of the Senate on their board. Send Al Gore in to talk his taxaholic buddies down.
General Electric, G.E. made 6.4 billion last years and paid ZERO taxes. Why? They give cash to the Washington politicians. Full stop. What a joke. Congress is corrupt. It is unethical to accept money from those they regulate and they all do it. This corruption is total among our “leaders.” I hope Tim Cook points this out. They are all pigs in the money trough.
(“Congress is corrupt”) = (1=1)
Well, it turned out that the ‘G.E paid no taxes’ story was just another invented piece of propaganda. But G.E. paid just about no taxes compared to other companies in the USA.
I’ve loathed G.E. since I was a kid as makers of imitative, defective crap. Samsung, from my POV, is just a Korean G.E. deja vu.
-> Who designed the defective nuclear plants in Japan that exploded during the Japan tsunami disaster, the nuke plants that continue to spew radiation into both the air and water of Japan and the northern Pacific ocean? Our brilliant, innovative pals at G.E. The USA has SEVERAL of the same defective nuke plants running today. Lots of fun. 😛
Face it, scum sucking politicians never saw a tax they didn’t like. They are salivating like some starved junkyard dog when it comes to trying to wring more money out of all Americans, be it personal or corporate. Just so they can of course spend it unwisely, and then claim the high ground. Fuck them all. Go Apple!
The Senators get paid 6 figures a year to ruin our country.
That is indeed the grand total effect these paid-for scum have on the USA.
Darn! Apple didn’t slip enough money to them! Better intimidate Apple until they fork over the graft! Then they’ll have corrupted Apple into playing THE GAME.
Parasites = politicians.
That’s the truth!
I’ve been watching the ‘hearings’ with Apple this morning astounded at the night and day difference in rhetoric between most of the Senators and Apple. Only Senator Paul captured the tone of the Senators at these hearings. As per usual, Paul went maniacal about the situation, but like it or not the problem here is with the US Senate, NOT Apple. The fact that the Senate is NOT discussing how to fix the problem but instead hacking away at Apple for having a now very old system of dealing with its foreign income (since 1980!) shows how INCAPABLE the US Senate is, on BOTH sides of the aisle, of regulating and sanitizing ITSELF.
TERM LIMITS.
(Thank you for bringing up that subject MDN).
‘What he’s asking for is a reward for having gamed the system’
Yeah, Mr. And Ms. Congress Person. Kind of like exempting yourselves from all the laws you pass covering the rest of the populace (healthcare, et.at., anyone?)
Pot calling the kettle black!