Apple Publishes Opening Statements From Today’s Senate Hearing On Taxes

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Apple has published the opening statements read by CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer earlier today at the U.S. Senate Subcommittee hearing on corporate taxes. The hearing lasted several hours and was televised live on CSPAN.

Senators like Carl Levin, John McCain, and Rand Paul were present to lead the committee and hear from industry experts. Apple was called to the stand to explain why it stores a large percentage of its billions in cash overseas.

Apple was adamant that it obeys all corporate tax laws, including the “spirit of the law.” Instead of critiquing Apple for using loopholes to avoid heavy taxation, Cook and Oppenheimer urged the committee to see need for policy reform, a sentiment that was echoed by Senator Rand Paul.

Senator McCain and Levin (especially Levin) accused Apple of cheating the U.S. tax system, and Apple said the tax code is so broken that it puts the company at a competitive disadvantage against other international companies, like Samsung.

You can read Cook and Oppenheimer’s statements in full here and here for a concise look at Apple’s arguments.

Image: Jason Reed/Reuters

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