Leaked documents reveal Apple’s newest tax haven

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Apple is made of money.
Apple's tax practices save it billions of dollars.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac


Dodging taxes is still one of Apple’s top priorities.

The iPhone-maker has come under serious fire in both the U.S. and internationally for its tax practices, but according to a new batch of leaked documents, the company is still doing everything it can to avoid paying the full amount.

The leaked documents called the Paradise Papers reveal that chose the island of Jersey as its newest tax haven. The island country is a UK Crown dependency and makes its own tax laws with a 0% corporate tax rate for foreign companies, making it a prime location for a company like Apple.

Documents show that Apple was able to avoid billions in taxes from by relocating two of its key Irish subsidiaries to Jersey. The company hired Appleby’s to run its tax scheme from Jersey starting in 2015 until early 2016.

Apple Operations International (AOI) and Apple Sales Internationals are the two subsidiaries moved to Jersey. AOI holds most of Apple’s overseas cash hoard which is currently valued at $252 billion.

Accounts for Apple show that it paid just $1.65 billion in taxes to foreign countries in 2017, despite making $44.7 billion outside the US. That’s a rate of about 3.7%.

A 2016 EUC investigation into Apple’s tax status in Ireland found that the company owes €13 billion worth of back taxes from 2003 – 2013.

Apple declined to comment on the story by the BBC, only saying “When Ireland changed its tax laws in 2015, we complied by changing the residency of our Irish subsidiaries and we informed Ireland, the European Commission and the United States.”

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