Apple's claiming their headquarters is worth only $200

[Jtalk4456]

So the list of this is that Apple is trying to cut down it's taxes very aggressively. The most recent attempt at this comes in the form of flat out lying about the value of their headquarters. Love or hate apple, this is just stupid.

So much so that when someone mentioned it, I told myself it was a joke, couldn't be true...

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/401776-apple-argued-its-buildings-were-worth-200-instead-of-1-billion-to-reduce

https://sputniknews.com/business/201808151067197776-apple-claims-hq-worth-200-save-tax/

https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Apple-is-reportedly-arguing-that-buildings-at-its-13154475.php

https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-trying-to-reduce-cupertino-tax-bill-2018-8

 

Quote

Apple argued that buildings it owned around Cupertino, Calif., where it is headquartered, were only worth $200 instead of the $1 billion tax assessors deemed in 2015, according to appeals reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle.

So TLDR, the tax assessors say the building is worth 1 billion, and apple says, "Nope it's worth the cost of a small portable shed."

For those who haven't seen it before, this is the building they are claiming to be worth $200

 

I'm not saying they're definitely lying... but

Each of those are solar panels. Most solar panels on a residential scale are about the cost apple is saying the building is worth...

Also this is not the only case of them trying to devalue property

Quote

 

In another, Apple said a property valued at $384 million by local officials was also worth $200, The Chronicle said.

Apple may be the biggest taxpayer in Santa Clara County, where its Cupertino headquarters is based, but The Chronicle said it had 489 open tax appeals in the area, disputing $8.5 billion (£6.7 billion) in property value.

 

Quote

"These are major cases, and publicly, they kind of go under the radar screen," Santa Clara County assessor Larry Stone said. Companies are prepared to spend millions of dollars on lawyers to appeal tax rulings, he added, "but there's millions at stake."

It astounds me, and I'm not sure what to say that would be appropriate on this forum...To clarify the 489 open tax appeals stretch back to 2004, meaning there have been unpaid taxes held in court for years!

Quote

At Apple's prices, it would be cheaper to scoop up the physical property around its headquarters than it would be to buy a laptop from the tech giant.

Let's end this with a quote from the man himself

Quote

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the firm pays its taxes properly. "In every country where we operate, Apple follows the law and we pay all the taxes we owe," Cook said in an open letter in 2016.

 

Alternate Title: Apple Moves headquarters to mobile backyard shed 

 

[TacoSenpai]

Yeah ok when can I buy it?

[Fasterthannothing]

I'll buy it for $201 

[TacoSenpai]

1 minute ago, Shorty88jr said:

I'll buy it for $201 

I'll raise it to $202

[Taf the Ghost]

One thing about being a big company is you can have lawyers find interesting ways of changing laws. Or tax assessments. This should be good for some laughs.

[YedZed]

2 minutes ago, LordOTaco said:

I'll raise it to $202

Fuck it, I'm going all in. 400 dollars for the entirety of the trillion dollar company's headquarters!

[ne0tic]

3 minutes ago, LordOTaco said:

I'll raise it to $202

I'll do $300

[Guest]

Just now, YedZed said:

Fuck it, I'm going all in. 400 dollars for the entirety of the trillion dollar company's headquarters!

500, 500 and..... SOLD! 

[LeChef]

Apple finally acknowledging that their stuff isn't worth all that much.

[Rune]

Would be a shame if the government needed the land for a highway and forced them off of it, paying them a fair value of $200.

[Supportsneedlove]

Seems about right

[YedZed]

1 minute ago, Konrad_K said:

500, 500 and..... SOLD! 

Damn, I really let a big one go there. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to buy the 175 ACRE CAMPUS MADE OF GLASS WITH A FUCKING ORCHARD IN THE MIDDLE

[YedZed]

You can't even buy a decent iPhone with $200  

[GoldenLag]

cheapest item Apple has for offer that isn`t an accessory to the Iphone.......

[mrchow19910319]

If I own a company that worth billions and I can avoid paying tax by saying my building worth 200 bucks, I will definitely do it. 

[S w a t s o n]

[Trixanity]

As usual, they're technically not lying or doing anything illegal - at least not until proven otherwise.

That's why they have expensive lawyers and accountants to make sure they don't pay fuck all in taxes.

So if they can get away with claiming the campus is worth $200 then they've probably had their people find every loophole, taxcut and write-off they could scrounge up to reduce the listed value.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they had a way of reducing the value by pulling something like having a shell company own the property and then have the company be indebted to another shell company by an amount similar to its actual value and therefore be worth nothing or something like that. I have no knowledge of real estate, accounting or law so that's just a guess on how to do it. However I'm probably wrong or if right at all, then at least oversimplifying it.

[Okjoek]

[Afrocomb]

I don't know what the American equivalent of a compulsory purchase order is, (where land and buildings have to be sold to the goverment to make way for things like roads), but make a law saying these tax assessments will be used to set the compensation for compulsory purchase orders and you won't get companies like Apple trying to claim hi-tech 21st buildings on acres of land are only worth $200! Either that or the government can get some bargains and sell them on to competitors with a very nice profit margin!

[S w a t s o n]

Just now, Afrocomb said:

I don't know what the American equivalent of a compulsory purchase order is, (where land and buildings have to be sold to the goverment to make way for things like roads), but make a law saying these tax assessments will be used to set the compensation for compulsory purchase orders and you won't get companies like Apple trying to claim hi-tech 21st buildings on acres of land are only worth $200! Either that or the government can get some bargains and sell them on to competitors with a very nice profit margin!

Eminent Domain is the murica equivalent

[Shally]

I'll take 5.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

I mean it can't be that expensive to buy a landfill

[EarthWormJM2]

1 minute ago, YedZed said:

You can't even buy a decent iPhone with $200  

You can from shady Joe down the street!

 

... wait a minute.

[Shally]

1 minute ago, EarthWormJM2 said:

 

... wait a minute.

Yeah these are way better than iPhones, so at least like $250

[Jtalk4456]

22 hours ago, Trixanity said:

As usual, they're technically not lying or doing anything illegal - at least not until proven otherwise.

That's why they have expensive lawyers and accountants to make sure they don't pay fuck all in taxes.

So if they can get away with claiming the campus is worth $200 then they've probably had their people find every loophole, taxcut and write-off they could scrounge up to reduce the listed value.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they had a way of reducing the value by pulling something like having a shell company own the property and then have the company be indebted to another shell company by an amount similar to its actual value and therefore be worth nothing or something like that. I have no knowledge of real estate, accounting or law so that's just a guess on how to do it. However I'm probably wrong or if right at all, then at least oversimplifying it.

From reading the part where they have close to 500 claims open in court, i'd say their intention is not to win, but to keep it in court and never pay the actual taxes. The amount they'll pay in legal fees is nothing compared to taxes on a billion dollar property