Apple Avoided Billions in Taxes, Congressional Panel Says
Source: New York Times
Even as Apple became the nations most profitable technology company, it avoided billions in taxes in the United States and around the world through a web of subsidiaries so complex it spanned continents and surprised experts, a Congressional investigation has found.
Some of these subsidiaries had no employees and were largely run by top officials from the companys headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., according to Congressional investigators. But by officially locating them in places like Ireland, Apple was able to, in effect, make them stateless exempt from taxes, record-keeping laws and the need for the subsidiaries to even file tax returns anywhere in the world.
In 2011, for example, one subsidiary paid Ireland just one-twentieth of 1 percent in taxes on $22 billion on pretax earnings from various operations; another did not file a corporate tax return anywhere and has paid almost nothing on $30 billion in profits since 2009.
Apple wasnt satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven, said Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat. Apple sought the holy grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars while claiming to be tax resident nowhere.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/apple-avoided-billions-in-taxes-congressional-panel-says.html?pagewanted=all
tomm2thumbs
(13,297 posts)to buy themselves a soul
ChromeFoundry
(3,270 posts)the suicide nets at Foxconn were actually designed to catch the souls of the child laborers as they plunge to their death.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)And they should pay more.
Again, blame Congress.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I too often find ways to rationalize the actions of my sacred cows, and place blame elsewhere. It denies both myself and my sacred cow any ethical responsibilities...
I believe it is colloquially called a "win-win" scenario when we do that. Good for us!
tomm2thumbs
(13,297 posts)does it feel good to answer 'well.... technically we're not breaking any laws...'
maybe they should ask themselves
Do we want to be right?
Or do the right thing...
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)He wasn't talking to Apple.
louis-t
(23,297 posts)that tax breaks for wealthy corporations don't create jobs. As wealth of these companies grows, they often shed employees. Koch, Exxon, etc. have similar track records.
ChromeFoundry
(3,270 posts)If they are not doing their job, then as a consumer you need to boycott Apple until they act in an ethical manner. If you do not, you are as much at fault.
The bully in an elementary school that constantly harasses a smaller child, technically isn't breaking any laws.
Yelling "Wire!" in a crowded theater, technically isn't breaking any laws either - but, rest assured, the one yelling is still a douche bag.
Addison
(299 posts)ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)And they have hip cool commercials. They fit my progressive modern lifestyle perfectly therefor they can do no wrong.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Each year for the executive bonuses in the form of stock options. I'm guessing that Apple does not include these credits when they report how much tax they pay while the government looks at net taxes as the difference is about right for that being the case.
The credit occurs when Apple announces their executives compensation package with the credit being the difference between the option price and the closing value of the stock on that day. In 2009 that difference came to $700 million.
mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)Corporations will do what they can to get more money. It's what they're there for. The problem is that the Republicans pushed for laws and loopholes specifically to make this kind of thing possible. I doubt they (the Republicans) even thought about whether it was right or not, nor whether it would be good for the country. That simply doesn't matter to them. What did matter was how much of that money would come back as campaign contributions.
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)taxes are. You notice the Apple testimony was they paid x amount of dollars to the treasury. That means employee taxes, regulatory taxes it collects, sales taxes. It's a scam. Exxon advertises how much it pays in taxes but alot of that is taxes it collects at the pumps from company owned stores. They're talking about your taxes. It sickens me. Also, their percentage of income tax is on net earnings, let's compare what they are to gross income.
olddad56
(5,732 posts)Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)BuddhaGirl
(3,609 posts)Disgusting!
Initech
(100,102 posts)Egnever
(21,506 posts)By borrowing the money to pay them instead of using the cash they have on hand they will be avoiding millions more in taxes. Apple is a disgusting company.
OhioChick
(23,218 posts)They sure as hell are!
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)I'm certainly no Apple fan boy (and don't particularly care for their products), but the reality is most companies would kill to be in Apple's shoes at least as far as having the kind of cash cushion they have.
The reality is, 99% of corporations do exactly what Apple does. It's more glaringly obvious in Apple's case because of the amount of cash on hand they have and the schemes they're pulling to avoid paying taxes (like floating the recently issues bond). Surprise, surprise, the second most valuable company on earth is greedy and likes to avoid paying taxes.
Congress has itself, and only itself to blame for writing these damn loopholes into law. If this was GM, Ford, or Chryself, I can't imagine Levin being so critical.
Color me totally unimpressed.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)"The reality is, 99% of corporations do exactly what Apple does."
No, 99% of corporations do not negotiate special taxation rates with governments. 99% of corporations cannot get away with a major subsidiary filing no tax return for 4 years, despite profits of $30 billion, and paying no tax on that, anywhere in the world.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Response to alp227 (Original post)
devilgrrl This message was self-deleted by its author.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Response to tridim (Reply #26)
devilgrrl This message was self-deleted by its author.
pitchforx
(49 posts)they are a bunch of unpatriotic quasi-cultists that use the public spectrum and infrastructure and don't feel the need to contribute. Robber barons, basically. At least Samsung is investing in building a plant in America. That makes them a better corporate citizen than the rotten Apple.
question everything
(47,534 posts)Corporations and individuals will avoid tax payments, will take advantage of tax loopholes as long as there are.
Time to scrap the tax code and start anew. And first thing - eliminate the 501(c)(4).