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Stiglitz Calls Apple's Profit Reporting In Ireland 'a Fraud' (bloomberg.com)
Jeanna Smialek, and Alex Webb, reporting for Bloomberg: Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz said U.S. tax law that allows Apple to hold a large amount of cash abroad is "obviously deficient" and called the company's attribution of significant earnings to a comparatively small overseas unit a "fraud." "Our current tax system encourages companies to keep their money abroad, opens up a vast loophole through what is called the transfer-pricing system that allows them not only to keep their money abroad but, effectively, to escape taxation," Stiglitz, who advises Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said. Stiglitz was speaking in response to a question about whether policy makers like Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, could develop a plan to encourage companies like Apple to bring their accumulated foreign earnings back to the U.S. About $215 billion of Apple's total $232 billion in cash is held outside of the country, third-quarter earnings results showed this week.
And Taxed in Ireland.
They should add this to all product labels.
They knew what the tax rate was in the country whose laws and protections they chose to work in. So now you're saying they should just be able to say "well that's not fair, I want to pay less"?
Apple hasn't moved head office to any of those other countries with less tax for many reasons, not a few of them are based on benefits derived from what that tax pays for. They can't have their cake and eat it too.
Sure, Corporate rates are highest in the U.S. But do you realize that the U.S. has a lower personal income tax rate?
For example, Ireland has a 48% personal income tax rate and only a 12.5% corporate tax rate. While Japan is sitting at near 51% personal and 32% corporate tax rates. While Canada is 26% and 29%. Chad has a 60% personal income tax rate.
The U.S. has a higher value on personal wealth than common wealth, while many developed countries do the opposite.
"...Presidential campaign..."
And that's where I stopped reading.
Apple does not have anything in Ireland other than office that says Apple. It's a shell company. So good luck with that notion that that can move operations to ireland after massive investments in the US. If they want to do that fine. Let them. Call their bluff. But it's unlikely since Apple want desperately to move profits back home.
So much for making profits Ireland.
When Apple does it, it pays Japanese Sales Tax, Japanese income tax (for that entity ( the local Apple subsidiary)), and then American income tax on top of that, three taxes.
The reason they pay American income tax is because the USA provides the infrastructure that allows them to exist in the first place. By "USA", I mean mine, and yours, and everyone else's tax dollars.
If you are suggesting that we should provide the infrastructure for Apple and it's execs to make billions of dollars and not expect them to kick back, you are nuts.