Apple CEO Tim Cook goes before a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to testify on Apple’s offshore tax practices.
The hearing will also feature two additional panels with treasury department officials and tax law academics. While watching the anticipated theatrics of the generally shameless politicians, keep in mind that the U.S. Senate investigation found no evidence that Apple did anything illegal in avoiding taxes.
According to The Associated Press, the subcommittee’s inquiry and hearing are intended to shine a light on “offshore tax-avoidance tactics” by Apple, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich said at a news conference Monday with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the panel’s senior Republican. Companies’ use of such loopholes has the effect of raising the taxes of ordinary Americans and increasing the federal deficit, he said.
MacDailyNews Take: “Don’t look at the profligate federal spending for which I and my colleagues are responsible, of course. Look over here, instead.”
C-SPAN will carry the coverage live online and on their broadcast channels today:
Broadcast Airings:
May 21 at 9:30 AM – C-SPAN11 (4 hr, 30 min)
May 21 at 10:35 AM – C-SPAN (1 hr, 25 min)
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30am EDT here.
Related articles:
U.S. Senate investigation found no evidence that Apple did anything illegal in avoiding taxes – May 20, 2013
Apple’s U.S. tax fallout set to have global impact – May 20, 2013
Hagens Berman investigating Apple Inc., others regarding tax-avoidance schemes; seeks whistleblower information – May 20, 2013
Grandstanding U.S. Senate panel expected to castigate Apple CEO Tim Cook for leading U.S.’s largest corporate income taxpayer – 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
What can they do with Apple ! Huh !! Apple is king
Are you watching these idiot congressmen???? They want money that is NOT US RELATED… They WANT to get more capital so they can get re-voted into office.
Other than that, its all BULL Sh*t. OMG they just cannot get off the fact that sales made in Europe are TAXED in Europe. Let it go. !!!!!! Maybe Apple should move all operations to Europe and pay NO taxes to USA.
Or maybe we need to consider electing intelligent people to congress. I am so ashamed of these government people. And I am glad that I did not vote for any of them.
Sad…. so Sad. PS, McCain is bitching about the ease of uploading Apple Apps…. he doesn’t even understand that its the App developers that are updating….. 🙁
See the Senators and their feigned outrage, mock disdain, and faux concern!
As they grill a man worth more than all of them combined – in more ways than one.
Let the dog & pony show begin!
I’m concerned that Carl Levin may be mentally retarded.
The fact that he has ugly hair doesn’t help matters either.
Flash.
Yuck.
No Flash here. MDN, please do a minute-by-minute regurgitation.
Use Photon ( flash browser) on iPad
Apple is an international organization. It isn’t “tax-avoidance” for earned funds outside the USSA to be used to employ others outside the USSA and to pay taxes to the countries they are earned in.
This is a myopic vision by greedy District of Criminal power grabbers.
These people are idiots. They don’t even understand what they are talking about. Apple hasn’t avoided 1 cent in US tax, it has simply deferred paying them, the same way you defer paying taxes on the 401K “profits” for years and years.
… idiots. Tax laws are such that even those who LIVE off that knowledge do not often fully understand it.
Apple IS avoiding tax payments. Legally, but avoiding none the less. The rules are meant to be used. The governments in question hope to take profitable advantage of the rules but it is legal for tax payers to do the same.
Wish Steve was alive, he’d rip them all a new one. One swipe of the Jobsian Light Saber and it would be over.
Hope Tim stays cool and puts them in their place as best he can. I hate those bastages.
OMG: “[Apple] is responsible for kids not having Head Start available to them.. for the budget deficit…” Senator Levine is claiming that Congress bases the budget on taxes that companies ought to pay. Wow. I hope editorial writers all over the country call him on that.
There is no box to pay additional taxes than what one owes, either personal or corporate. Tax “loopholes” are tax law, meant to determine what should be considered taxable income. Knowingly failing to use a so called “loophole” could be considered illegal because it would require submitting a false tax document. As long as Apple has not broken the law, which appears to be the case, congress is to blame. Every loophole that exists is due to some politician that was fishing for a vote.
Time to dig into the congressional record and see how Senator Levine and Senator McCain voted on this tax code issues they’re not saying Apple took advantage of.
… Sen. Johnson is painfully under-informed as to matters of finance. Do they not sell stocks in Wisconsin? Does he not understand there are many, MANY, millions of shares of AAPL outstanding? OK … close to a Billion.
… Sen Levin needs – and is getting – an education on the ploys Apple uses to save on tax-expense. Not a Good Sign, yeah? How about Sen McCain, though. His questions indicate a) he is not well informed on the tax rules, and, b) he didn’t understand the previous testimony. The latter is scary!
… understand that cutting the rate to repatriate Apple’s ex-patriot cash is – in effect – RAISING taxes? I know, the logic is convoluted. Just thought I’d point the strangeness out. 😉
Where do we go to set up a committee to grill these Senators on their malfeasance regarding their management of the tax codes? They should be looking in a mirror rather than at Tim Cook.
I just read some of the transcripts. Sounds like I was channeling Rand Paul with my above comment.
“…through [Apple’s] convoluted and pernicious strategies…”
Senator McCain, you created the convoluted and pernicious tax code.
Fix it.
McCain is pissed because Apple didn’t put any money into HIS coffer! He should have put his wife’s money into Apple stock and maybe he would be quiet. Wait, he’s a professional politician – not going to happen.
He’s been at the government teat too long.
What a bunch of buffoons. Apple is using the tax laws that these clowns put into effect and then they complain that Apple is taking care of their shareholders instead of propping up their inefficient, dysfunctional government.
Shame on Sen. Levin for stating that Apple is keeping food out of children’s mouths by not paying enough into the Government’s dependency schemes.
Shame on Sen. McCain for alluding that Apple should pay taxes they don’t legally owe.
“Paid zero taxes”. What BS!
Mr. Levin says that companies do not have the right to decide whether or not they should pay certain taxes. If they are not able to determine how much tax they pay according to the law, who has the right to make that determination?
MR. PAUL WAS RIGHT THAT “CONGRESS NEEDS TO APOLOGIZE TO APPLE” instead.
Right on! Ron Paul
Way to go Sen. Rand Paul. Tell it like it is.
Never thought I’d ever applaud senator Paul !
Well said Me Paul – kudos!
He just earned my vote.
…Well said Mr. Paul
That Senator Levine had to take 3 minutes to fight back is telling. The Air Force has a saying: “You know you’re close to your target when you start taking flak.”
All that he said is what every conservative Republican believes. That would of course exclude the jackass John McCain and his Democrat cohorts, who simply want all of everybodys money so they can spend it in about one day, producing nothing but corruption and decay. Go Rand Paul!
Senator Paul Rand for president 2016
So Apple has broken no laws, but is basically on trial in this Senate hearing. This country is getting more illogical every day.
Isn’t it fascinating that Congress, who creates the tax code, has to call on tax experts to explain things back to them?
Not that’s funny right there. But sadly TRUE.
Not really. It’s totally normal. The tax code is beyond most people. Congress uses tax experts to devise the code to comply with what Congress says it wants the end result to be; companies find the ways to minimize taxes under the code. Rinse and repeat. Steve Jobs had no idea how to make computers – Woz et al. did that, and now thousands of engineers. Everyone uses experts and specialists to advise them. It’s just Apple’s experts are better than Congress’.
Don’t equate Congress’ or government’s use of experts with a producer like Jobs. Jobs’ goals were productive and life affirming, Congress’ are NOT.
The tax investigation subcommittee by Congress is a “gimmick!”
“Apple didn’t really take advantage of those” tax loophole gimmicks. Apple did take advantage of a sweetheart deal by Ireland to have tax deferrals for a period of time in Ireland. All good companies make such sweetheart deals with local governments as “favored” companies for period of time to not pay local taxes in order to provide jobs. Reference Wal-Mart, etc.
Convoluted and pernicious? Maybe.
Illegal? Nope.
You know what’s great about Apple? Like the China labor issue, Apple isn’t afraid to speak plainly about big issues and propose solutions when all of its technology “peers” cower in dark corners and remain mute.
And I’m not talking about an Eric Schmidt wankfest where he panders to the Senate for 4 hours while saying – and offering – nothing. Just like Google did with Chinese labor. Nothing.
I don’t recall the the hearing where the jackass Senators dragged Jeffrey Immelt to explain why GE, owner o NBC and MSNBC, paid ZERO in corporate taxes last year on their US income. When was that hearing about why a politically favored corporation was given exclusive loopholes to avoid any taxes. Not on foreign income but on US income. Let’s hear the fathead Carl Levin and the incredibly moronic John McCain bring that hearing on.
Senator Levine: “What is EBT?”
“(Actually, I, chairman of this subcommittee, know what the acronym means, but I’m not sure my colleagues do nor might viewers of this hearing know what it means. I’m just taking the position of ignorance for the benefit of everyone else. Really.)”
This Harvard guy’s voice is killing me. If I had him as a Prof in my class in college forced to listen to his whiny nasal voice I’d have to run out of the room or change majors.
I’d listen to his class podcasts on my iPod but with the iPod’s Equalizer set to “small speakers” 😉
USA is not like china who say no then no