Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer are in Washington D.C. this morning to talk to a Senate subcommittee about Apple’s off-shore cash hoard. The Apple execs are expected to face a lot of heat surrounding Apple’s Irish subsidiary, through which Apple has funneled 64% of its earnings without paying any tax, yet has zero employees.
Before the hearing got underway though, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Eamon Gilmore, issued a public statement which claimed Ireland isn’t to blame for Apple’s low tax bill, even though the country has become a tax haven for multinationals since the 1960s.
As reported by Reuters, Eamon Gilmore had the following to say regarding the Apple taxation controversy:
There are issues that arise from the taxation systems in other jurisdictions, and that is an issue that has to be addressed first of all in those jurisdictions.
Apple isn’t being accused of breaking any tax laws; however, the company has used Ireland’s tax laws to mitigate the amount of taxes it pays internationally. The committee is looking for solutions to fix U.S. corporate tax laws so companies like Apple can’t funnel $78 billion over four years to subsidiaries with no employees and pay a fraction of taxes on it.
For a full breakdown on how Apple used Ireland’s tax laws to avoid paying international taxes, check out our full article right here.
