“Republican Donald Trump is proposing a big tax cut for companies like Apple Inc., which would see its tax rate slashed on about $200 billion of profit it keeps offshore,” Lynnley Browning reports for Bloomberg. “Yet Apple’s boss is co-hosting a fundraiser on Wednesday for Trump’s Democratic opponent for the White House.”
“Cook’s support for Clinton, who hasn’t tried to match Trump’s tax cuts for corporations, reflects how the Republican nominee’s proposals haven’t won him much support among U.S. technology leaders — many of whom have expressed concern about his campaign-trail bombast,” Browning reports. “Trump’s tax plans call for ending deferral and cutting the top corporate tax rate to 15 percent. For the trillions in offshore profit that U.S. companies have already accumulated, he suggests the one-time tax rate of 10 percent — a bargain that he says would lure that cash back to the U.S quickly and deliver economic growth as well as tax revenue for infrastructure spending.”
“Cook told CBS News in December that he would ‘love to’ repatriate Apple’s offshore earnings. ‘Why don’t you?’ interviewer Charlie Rose asked. ‘Because it would cost me 40 percent to bring it home,’ Cook said — evidently adding state taxes to the federal tax rate. ‘And I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to do,'” Browning reports. “This summer, House Republicans released a blueprint for a major corporate-tax overhaul that would create a repatriation tax rate of just 8.75 percent. The GOP plan would also move the U.S. toward a ‘territorial’ approach to taxation — meaning companies would owe taxes only on their domestic income. (The U.S. is the only developed economy that uses a so-called worldwide tax system.) The House tax plan was released just four days before Cook hosted another political fundraiser. That one was for House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who has made overhauling federal-tax policy a top policy priority.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, U.S. corporate taxes are too high.
Under the current U.S. corporate tax system, it would be very expensive to repatriate that cash. Unfortunately, the tax code has not kept up with the digital age. The tax system handicaps American corporations in relation to our foreign competitors who don’t have such constraints on the free flow of capital… Apple has always believed in the simple, not the complex. You can see it in our products and the way we conduct ourselves. It is in this spirit that we recommend a dramatic simplification of the corporate tax code. This reform should be revenue neutral, eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates and implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows the free flow of capital back to the U.S. We make this recommendation with our eyes wide open, realizing this would likely increase Apple’s U.S. taxes. But we strongly believe such comprehensive reform would be fair to all taxpayers, would keep America globally competitive and would promote U.S. economic growth. – Apple CEO Tim Cook, May 21, 2013
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook presses for U.S. corporate tax reform, says no repatriation without fair rate – August 15, 2016
Donald Trump plan calls for cuts in corporate taxes, personal income tax rates – August 9, 2016
Barring a tax holiday, Apple will need to raise over $50 billion in debt the next 2 years – July 15, 2016
Cramer: Apple’s Tim Cook is ‘patriotic’ on taxes – December 21, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook is absolutely right – and wrong – on U.S. corporate tax policy – December 20, 2015
Apple CEO calls corporate tax rap ‘total political crap’ – December 18, 2015
Apple avoids $59.2 billion U.S. tax bill – October 7, 2015
U.S. companies now have $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid corporate taxes – March 4, 2015
Intel CFO: Obama repatriation tax proposal ‘lipstick on a pig’ – February 4, 2015
U.S. Congress, Obama take Apple CEO Cook’s advice, eye corporate tax changes – February 3, 2015
Obama targets foreign profits with tax proposal, Republicans skeptical – February 2, 2015
Senator Rand Paul finds Democratic partner for tax repatriation holiday – January 30, 2015
Businesses hopeful Republican control of U.S. Congress will break tax-reform gridlock – November 5, 2014
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David E.” for the heads up.]