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.
The headquarters of the ruling government party of Ireland, Fine Gael, was the site of recent apple massacre after angry citizens flocked to the offices to protest Apple’s massive tax breaks.
Members of the youth wing Sinn Fein impaled apples of the orange and red variety on the fences of Fine Gael’s Dublin offices following the revelation from the European Commission that Ireland intentionally lowered Apple’s tax burden.
Check out the horrific scene:
Apple is by far Cupertino’s biggest and most recognizable employer, but the city’s new mayor has accused the tech giant of not pulling its weight when it comes to taxes.
Mayor Barry Chang, who’s only been on the job since December, is wasting no time in pursuit of his mission to get Apple to pay more taxes. He’s slated the local council for apparently cozying up to Apple, and even gotten himself booted out of Apple’s HQ on one occasion after turning up uninvited.
From saying that he doesn’t want to be stuck in the Apple ecosystem to advising Apple to build an Android phone, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has said a lot of things that probably don’t go down too well at his former company.
His latest comments, however, put him more directly in the sights of Tim Cook — as Woz uses a new interview to take a shot at Apple’s tax payments. His thoughts? The company should pay more than it does. Half of everything it earns, in fact!
Apple is holding more cash overseas than any other corporation in the U.S. and it’s paying off big time by helping the company avoid an estimated $59.2 billion tax bill.
Apple believes it’s the highest taxpayer in the U.S, but the company has still been subjected to intense scrutiny because the majority of its cash isn’t located stateside, but in offshore subsidiaries scattered around the globe.
In a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee this summer, Apple was accused of using Irish tax loopholes to avoid paying on about $44 billion in foreign profits. By basing ghost subsidiaries in Ireland, Apple has been able to not pay a considerable amount of taxes to any country. Now the Irish government is considering changing its tax code to prevent such behavior from happening in the future.
In his interview today at the AllThingsD D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to questions from Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg about Apple taxes. Relating his time with the congressional subcommittee this past week, Cook, said that he felt strongly about how the company was portrayed by lawmakers.
Cook said that he wanted to be a catalyst for a discussion, coming to the hearing with a proposal rather than a defense, one for a revenue-neutral and major overhaul of corporate taxes nationwide.
Cook said that he felt simplicity was good, and how Apple approaches everything. The current tax system, he said, results in a two foot high tax return every year. When asked what he would like to do with it, he replied, “I would suggest we gut it.”
This week on The CultCast: Apple Chief Tim Cook brings his Southern charm to Washington, hints at an iHologram; we break down the Apple tax debacle and say why their overseas billions are too legit to quit; and Xbox One vs. Apple TV, should Apple be worried?
All that and more on this week’s CultCast. Stream or download new and past episodes on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and let the good times roll.
Show notes up next.
As part of expert testimony at today’s Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple Inc., Professor J. Richard Harvey has made a compelling case that the tax system Apple is taking advantage of needs to have its loopholes closed.
Harvey — a distinguished Professor of Practice at Villanova University’s School of Law — says that while what Apple has done is acceptable under current International tax law, it still widely uses tax tricks and gimmicks to avoid paying what it fully owes.
