taxes

When it comes time to deal with tax season, the amount of required documents can quickly become overwhelming. You could always attempt to collect and protect paper printouts like some kind of hoarder. But the smart move in this modern era is to digitize all your documents with an iPhone scanning app.

With all your documents scanned, you will benefit from a major shortcut when filing taxes. And you can streamline the scanning process by picking up a discounted lifetime subscription to the highly rated iScanner app. Normally priced at $199, you can get this iPhone app for only $31.99 with code ENJOY20 for a limited time.

If there’s one good thing about tax season, it’s the renewed focus it brings to our finances. Every April, we get a good hard look at the money we brought in last year — and how we made the most of it (or didn’t).

Here’s an idea: Instead of stressing about it all at once, why not make this the last year that the IRS gives you a wake-up call? All it takes is a little financial education, and that’s exactly what you’ll get in the 9-Course Guide to Recession-Proofing Your Finances.

Tax season is here, and it’s totally normal if you’re stressing about what that means for your finances. Whether you’re filing with dependents for the first time, trying to get education tax credits, figuring out what’s actually deductible, or planning for your retirement, there’s a lot to consider.

But you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. The Ultimate Guide to Taxes Bundle is a comprehensive set of courses that could give you the knowledge to make this the best tax season yet. And it’s only $19.99 until March 2 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

When it comes to quickly saving, sharing and editing documents, PDFs are a daily staple for many. Routinely necessary for professional and educational purposes, they’re also a crucial way to streamline the tax preparation process each year.

PDF Expert is a smart resource for Mac users who want to eliminate unnecessary frustrations caused by file compatibility problems. And a lifetime license is currently available for only $69.99 (regularly $139).

T.S. Eliot had it right: April really is the cruelest month, especially if you’re a freelancer, small business owner or independent contractor. That April 15 tax deadline means you’re either scraping together proof for all your deductions, or paying an accountant to shave a few extra dollars off what you owe.

Being your own boss certainly has its benefits, but the time you spend jumping through IRS hoops is not one of them. Luckily, it was only a matter of time before app developers brought the power of AI to ease the problem of taxes — and FlyFin is a compelling solution that’s tailor-made for the self-employed.

Apple has reportedly declined to sign on to a new French initiative that asks big tech companies to commit to paying their “fair share” of tax.

French President Emmanuel Macron has set up a “Tech for Good Call” that will seek to implement these changes. However, while Google, Microsoft, Facebook and 72 other companies have joined, Apple and Amazon haven’t signed on yet.

Tim Cook talked taxes, WWDC secrets, and how the iPhone can play a small, but important role in changing the world for the better in an interview aired over the weekend on CBS Sunday Morning.

“I’m full of secrets and it’s hard not to overflow right now,” Cook said. “But I’ve been trained well.” On other topics, however, he was a lot more open.

Tax season is delayed, but it’s not canceled, so check out this deal on TurboTax Deluxe Package. It’s a powerful tool for filing your taxes easily and quickly, while getting the maximum refund.

The European Commission famously handed Apple a massive $14.5 billion bill in 2016. But from the sound of things it’s only going to get tougher with Silicon Valley’s biggest tech giants.

According to a new report, EU antitrust regulators are “considering taking a tougher line” against companies. This could affect the likes of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google.

Tech giants, including Apple, have avoided more than $100 billion in taxes over the past decade, a report claims.

British organization Fair Tax Mark looked at the 10-K filings of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft between 2010 and 2019. On its website, Fair Tax Mark notes that tax “helps to fund vital public goods and services and when paid fairly, it ensures a level playing field for businesses large and small.”

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ proposed “inequality tax” would punish large businesses that pay their CEOs vastly more than the median wage for employees. Apple is one of those companies.

A group of G20 finance ministers met over the weekend to discuss closing loopholes used by tech giants to reduce their corporate taxes.

The hope is that common rules across would stop companies like Apple booking their profits in low-tax countries, such as Ireland. This is currently done regardless of where end customers may be located.

The average American spends about 13 hours each year dealing with taxes. That’s a lot of work to get money you’ve already earned. For years the options were either fork over money to a tax advisor, or grind through the DIY process. A new app-based solution called Visor offers a third way.

Beleaguered French president Emmanuel Macron is hoping to win back public favor by putting in place tax hikes on American tech giants doing business in Europe.

France has reportedly been working with other countries in the European Union to introduce a digital tax on companies including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google. The new taxes, set to be introduced in January, could pull in $792 million.

In an op-ed for a German newspaper, Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz proposes a global minimum rate of corporation tax as one way to ensure that multinational corporations like Apple pay domestic taxes in line with the profits that they earn.

The European Union (EU) has long been attempting to get tech giants to stop using complex accounting tricks to shuffle profits around to minimize the amount that they pay in each country.

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.

Apple is the reason why most non-locals know the name Cupertino. Just in case free international advertising wasn’t enough, however, the company just sent a letter to the Cupertino City Council, outlining all the nice things Apple does to benefit its hometown.

Although it doesn’t mention it, the letter conveniently arrives on the eve of a discussion on whether to impose a “head tax” on Apple employees in the area.

Cupertino’s city government decided to ask voters next year whether it should charge businesses a tax on every worker. Apple is the city’s largest employer, so most of the cost would have fallen on the iPhone maker.

The original plan, while vague, was to use the additional revenue to create more affordable housing options and improve Cupertino’s transit system.

The first big Apple earnings report for 2018 is nearly here. And, based on analysts’ expectations, it will likely be Apple’s biggest moneymaking quarter ever.

After weeks of waiting, investors will finally get their first look at how well the iPhone X is selling. Apple’s holiday sales probably hit historic levels. But with recent reports that Apple slashed iPhone X orders in half, there could be quite a few surprises in store.

As usual, Cult of Mac will be here to liveblog all the action as it transpires on Thursday, February 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Get ready to watch for these six things during the call:

This week on a very spicy edition of The CultCast: Tim Cook is thrilled with the new U.S. tax overhaul, and has some exciting plans to spend Apple’s massive fortune. Plus: Forget other smart speakers — we’ll tell you why we’re now even more excited for HomePod. And stick around for our favorite movies, shows and sausages in an all-new, very weird “What We’re Into!”

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off any hosting plan.

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.

Over the weekend, more than 300 people in Ireland staged a rally in support of Apple’s proposed 850 million ($960 million) euro data center in Athenry, County Galway.

The new data center was officially given the go-ahead over two years ago, although construction on it has been delayed by continuing legal issues. If built, the data center will help power Apple Music, the App Store, iMessages, Maps and Siri — while providing plenty of jobs to locals.

The European Commission is continuing its battle with Silicon Valley tech giants by taking Ireland to court, demanding that it reclaim a $17.6 billion tax payment it is owed by Apple.

In addition, it is demanding that Amazon pay it 250 million euros ($294 million) on the grounds that is has enjoyed an illegal “sweetheart deal” in Luxembourg.

So far, most of Apple’s wrangles concerning its European tax issues has been carried out by the company’s accountants and legal team.

That could change in 2017, however, when none other than Tim Cook has been requested to attend a meeting in Dublin, Ireland, alongside the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

A new poll suggests a majority of Irish voters support the Irish government in opposing Apple’s enormous $14.52 billion tax bill for unpaid back taxes in the Republic of Ireland.

47 percent of respondents said they agreed the Irish government was right to back Apple, compared to 39 percent who say it’s wrong to do so, and 14 percent who had no opinion on the subject.