Apple avoids billions in taxes

[bradscoolio]

 

 

To many words, not enough time to summarize!

 

I do feel there had to be something going in house to lead to such success. Though, a loop hole is a loop hole :/

 

 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/apple-avoided-billions-in-taxes-congressional-panel-says.html?_r=0

[Vanderburg]

Be upset about the loopholes themselves, not the people using them. 

[XiaoPigs]

Not surprised by this. Apple will always find a way to gain profits and this is another way.

[Night]

Is this why Apple still has so much money?

Sometimes I wonder why Apple products are still sold. The profitt is rediculously low for anyone selling their products.

[dylandylandylan]

It isn't just apple that find loopholes to ducking out of tax payments, many big companies are notorious for this. legislation is too old to keep up with the times, and also too old for a complete re-write. Lawyers will always find little holes in everything.

[Night]

It isn't just apple that find loopholes to ducking out of tax payments, many big companies are notorious for this. legislation is too old to keep up with the times, and also too old for a complete re-write. Lawyers will always find little holes in everything.

Legislation also makes no sense. I challenge everyone to read some sort of legislation and tell me exactly how it works. The entire law itself is a giant loophole.

[dylandylandylan]

Legislation also makes no sense. I challenge everyone to read some sort of legislation and tell me exactly how it works. The entire law itself is a giant loophole.

 

It was designed that way so the common people get confused. Just like the age-old days where only the "educated" and people in power were allowed to read or write, or learn latin for example. There are many websites out there now that break it down and explain it to you, with proper lawyers sharing their points, it's quite interesting.

[cDNA]

Hold your horses everybody, let's not bash apple just for the sake of it. Indeed apple is being a jerk about that and this is a good reason to hate them.

But several members of my familly work on european regulation for this kind of matter and trust me most companies do this. They might not be american but the great majority of them do. And the reason we dont hear about it is because they hide well or pay the people that find out....

Apparently apple didnt had a chance the hide it and thats why we hear about it. Yes it is a scumbag move but they are not alone. I can bet that companies like samsung or asus or other do the same. Maybe not to the same extent but still.

So better hate the loophole than people using them. (But keep hating apple a little bit or else they will think they are helping the industry)

[felixbearpig]

i read the bbc version, yes apple is cheap but this could lead to good things, right now big corperations are being taxed 35%- fact , which means they do more offshore stuff. if apple does repeal this and lower the tax it could lead to more jobs for americans

[Lyons]

Hold your horses everybody, let's not bash apple just for the sake of it. Indeed apple is being a jerk about that and this is a good reason to hate them.

But several members of my familly work on european regulation for this kind of matter and trust me most companies do this. They might not be american but the great majority of them do. And the reason we dont hear about it is because they hide well or pay the people that find out....

Apparently apple didnt had a chance the hide it and thats why we hear about it. Yes it is a scumbag move but they are not alone. I can bet that companies like samsung or asus or other do the same. Maybe not to the same extent but still.

So better hate the loophole than people using them. (But keep hating apple a little bit or else they will think they are helping the industry)

Thank you for being the one with an actual rational and informed insight. People who go ahead and say 'oh this is why I hate Apple' have absolutely no economical knowledge or understanding of taxation. It's embarrassing, and makes the forum look immature. Every company the operates on a similar scale to Apple do it, even extremely wealthy people themselves do it. This stuff isn't irregular.

[cDNA]

Thank you for being the one with an actual rational and informed insight. People who go ahead and say 'oh this is why I hate Apple' have absolutely no economical knowledge or understanding of taxation. It's embarrassing, and makes the forum look immature. Every company the operates on a similar scale to Apple do it, even extremely wealthy people themselves do it. This stuff isn't irregular.

Just to be sure im being understood, what apple did IS irregular in two ways: 1 they got caught their pants down, and that usually doesnt happen and when it does the press rarely reports it. 2 the amount of money is quite impressive and i think its a first time that this kind of amount has been reported. But it doesnt take out the fact that other companies dont do worse but stay hidden.

We should just look at this in a wider scale.

[MzCatieB]

last time i checked... this has been happening for years, in fact i remember hearing about this when i was about 5

[brat137]

Tax loop holes exist as do tax breaks, why do companies have charity drives and other donations to charity or law firms doing pro-bono work. Its all for tax right offs. I have no problem with companies using loop holes to get out of such high tax payments because I don't think that anyone would say no if an accountant came and said "you can say everything we do goes through our HQ in Switzerland and then we only have to pay 5% instead of 20%"

 

Its simple business, its better for the company the shareholders and the directors. The point of business is primarily to increase the wealth of shareholders, making the company look good to a consumer who frankly doesn't matter is pointless if it means paying a huge amount more in tax.

[heineygoat]

Hillsong Church. The church focuses on profit and recruitment but evades taxes because it's a religion. They make millions in songs and concerts, merchandise etc.



Not taking a hit at Christianity, just the Hillsong Church.
 

[Lukiose]

Well, impressive but apparently not well enough to not get busted

[grayperview]

Greedy corporation finds way to avoid paying taxes, who would have thought it?

[ShiverMePenguins]

It was designed that way so the common people get confused. Just like the age-old days where only the "educated" and people in power were allowed to read or write, or learn latin for example. There are many websites out there now that break it down and explain it to you, with proper lawyers sharing their points, it's quite interesting.

it is interesting, but another reason why u.s. law is doomed to fail. not to be rude, but absolutely nothing is done right for the people.

 

potentially billions of dollars in taxes, that will simply be used up by the military in an hour, and people are going sick without food.

[Broseephus]

It's simple really

 

Put yourself in the position of a CEO/Board/Committee/Anyone that has a responsibility to a company

 

Option 1:  Pay a lot of money to the Federal government in the form of taxes

Option 2: Don't pay a lot of money to the Federal government in the form of taxes (and btw still completely legal)

 

Get over yourself if you think you would pick Option 1....... if you did you'd probably be fired.

 

 

 

it is interesting, but another reason why u.s. law is doomed to fail. not to be rude, but absolutely nothing is done right for the people.

 

potentially billions of dollars in taxes, that will simply be used up by the military in an hour, and people are going sick without food.

 

 

Have you ever seen the US budget?

 

Department of Defense - Approx  700 billion

 

Department of Health and Human services (includes medicare, medicaid) - about 950 billion (also I think this is pre-obamacare numbers so that number will soar in the coming years)

 

Social Security (this is a giant ponzi scheme the gov sold to the people as a mandatory retirement plan, however disabled/mentally ill/ displaced children all can receive the benefits - Approx 880 billion

 

On top of all that we spend about 30 billion a year on foreign aid (this doesn't include DOD expenditures for foreign aid)

 

 

Basically what I'm trying to get at is,,,, you don't know shit.

[BrapYeah]

I remember reading a couple years back that Microsoft has had tax refunds for the past five years (I think I read it around 2007-2008, I'm sure this hasn't changed today. I recall their highest return being $20 million.

[Nicktrance]

 

He does have a point, the laws are definitely not up to date with the digital age...

[FireFox]

That is a pretty big insult, I think they made something like $5 billion in the UK and since it was made in the UK surely is subject to UK corporation tax.

 

I have to pay my damn taxes and it sucks when these moron companies do crap like that, so damn frustrating.

 

I wonder what other countries they have done this

[ericlee30]

That's APPLE for you, What a great company :D NOT LMAO

[PCBudgetSolutions]

My taxes and small businesses get WRECKED.  Before I got let go from my job, I was paying 30% of my wages to taxes + cost of health care and yet apple barely paid a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of 1%.

[FireFox]

My taxes and small businesses get WRECKED.  Before I got let go from my job, I was paying 30% of my wages to taxes + cost of health care and yet apple barely paid a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of 1%.

 

I really don't understand how they can do that, it doesn't sound like a loop hole to me, it sounds like full blown tax evasion

[Sauber-C10]

Make it illegal to exploit loopholes and why arent apple subject to tax evasion like the rest of us?