Apple plays down its financial milestones these days, and there’s a good reason for that: tax.
According to a new report, Apple is one of a few companies which are “particularly aggressive” in downplaying the value of the property they own for tax purposes. Specifically, Apple thinks it’s been overtaxed on the buildings, land, lab equipment, and other expenses — and it wants to reclaim millions of dollars as a result.
A report by the SF Chronicle notes that:
“In Santa Clara County, Apple is the leading appealer of tax assessments, with 489 open cases dating back to 2004, disputing $8.5 billion in property value, according to the assessor’s office. Apple is largest taxpayer in the county, paying $56 million in tax year 2017-18.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment. In 2016, amid a dispute with the European Union over billions in taxes, CEO Tim Cook wrote in an open letter that ‘in every country where we operate, Apple follows the law and we pay all the taxes we owe.'”
The article breaks out a few examples to highlight the level of the discrepancy. For instance, in a 2015 appeal, Apple argued that a cluster of properties in and around Apple Park that had been valued at $1 billion was, in fact, worth only $200. That same figure was cited in another filing, in which a $384 million property was considered by Apple to be worth just $200.
While there is nothing illegal about appealing assessments, county assessors suggest that some of the tactics used by Apple and other tech companies, “border on abusing the system.” Of the $76 billion in disputed assessments, tech companies such as Apple, Google and others reportedly make up more than half of all cases.
That’s not a great look for a company like Apple whose CEO has talked about it being a “force for good” in the world.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
