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Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer Testify In Front of Senate Committee on Tax Strategies [Hearing Over]

AppleMark said:
Yes, you are right. It is Irelands fault that Apple do not pay a level of taxation expected of them....:rolleyes:
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Ireland doesn't tax them. So, companies choose to locate there. We have similar things at the State level here in the USA. You'd be amazed how many companies "exist" in Delaware.

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laurim said:
If someone asked you a question that's specifically worded in a way that makes it look like you did something wrong, would you simply agree with it?

"Sir, you specifically avoided your full tax obligations by taking the mortgage deduction on your 2012 taxes, DIDN'T YOU?"
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No, no. The classic is this:
So, when did you stop beating your wife?
 
bedifferent said:
and a Republican. First, I was joking. Second, read my post below.
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Levin is the chairman, and McCain is the ranking minority member. Levin ran the hearing, and has been the most vocal about Apple and taxes. As I said before, McCain is the only Republican that seems critical of Apple's practices.
 
BC2009 said:
And now we know why Carl Levin invited the Apple CFO and CEO to testify. It was not so he could hear their testimonies, it was so he could draw some cameras on himself and spout of the same narrative he has been posting on his website. Cook and Oppenheimer were there to draw the attention, but Carl Levin made sure he was in the center ring of this little media circus.

What a joke. He did not let either Oppenheimer or Cook finish answering a single question he asked. Citizens of Michigan should ensure this man does not get re-elected.

Because of the constant interruptions we never resolved many of the issues he has been stating that contradict Apple's written statement because he never let them finish a single answer without cutting them off. I tend to believe Apple's written statement over Levin since Levin was so anxious to shut down any answer that might contradict his narrative.
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Yup. Levin comes off looking like the Lame Old School Piece of Detroit Iron of yesteryear.

This is his last Congress. Forget about it. It will be back to WWDC by Friday. :apple:
 
The obvious answer to "Why does Apple keep a ton of money in Ireland?":

So Tim Cook can swim around in it like Scrooge McDuck. (Except Scrooge is Scottish)
 
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BRLawyer said:
So change the law - otherwise, just shut up (the politicians, I mean).
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Seriously, I would be interested to see what comes of all this and if governments will dare to challenge corporations in this way. Ultimately, they can decide to find another haven and another country happy to accept 1-5% tax revenue.

This is a global issue, not just related to the US, so there would need to be a global law change on tax. Which will probably not happen because of what I have said above.
 
laurim said:
If someone asked you a question that's specifically worded in a way that makes it look like you did something wrong, would you simply agree with it?

"Sir, you specifically avoided your full tax obligations by taking the mortgage deduction on your 2012 taxes, DIDN'T YOU?"
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There were very many questions asked. Very many that weren't worded in that kind of way. I think it is frustrating to hear a simple question, but getting nonsense back. You simply just want them to "just answer the damn question".
 
Ryth said:
Hardly at all. Facts are facts. If you view them as inappropriate, then you will hate the real world.
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If you are going to make what sounds to me (and probably others) like racist statements, please supply sources for your "facts". Otherwise, I hope you get banned from these forums.
 
JAT said:
Ireland doesn't tax them. So, companies choose to locate there. We have similar things at the State level here in the USA. You'd be amazed how many companies "exist" in Delaware.

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No, no. The classic is this:
So, when did you stop beating your wife?
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Exactly. Ireland doesn't tax them for all the other benefits. DEL exactly is the same 'example'...they should go after DEL. ;)
 
sseaton1971 said:
Levin is the chairman, and McCain is the ranking minority member. Levin ran the hearing, and has been the most vocal about Apple and taxes. As I said before, McCain is the only Republican that seems critical of Apple's practices.
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I'm certainly not debating this fact, my comment was in regard to McCain's hypocrisy as his past actions as far back at the early-mid 1980's and his 2008 campaign contributions are rather ironic in his dealings in these hearings. Additionally, I addressed Rand Paul's hypocrisy with sources.

Again, this is not a Democrat vs. Republican point. I have conceded both parties are far from angelic. I do take issues with McCain and Rand Paul grandstanding when their actions in no way make them qualified to head this "campaign". :)

Read my [lengthy] comment. :)

I removed some commentary to stay on topic and realized some of it was personal belief. Again, I'm not disagreeing with you at all.
 
steve119 said:
I don't see the problem, there are taxes over here in the uk for example, they sell a product over here then their profit gets taxed locally.

How can you be double taxed for profit? :confused:
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That's exactly it. I'm a UK self employed tax payer. When I do my tax return, I have an option to declare earnings abroad. I declare those earnings abroad after the local tax has been applied. The remaining profit goes to my bank account.

Do I have the UK taxman coming after me saying I need to pay extra tax if I want to use that money in the UK? Absolutely not. Bottom line is: i've earned that money, paid my dues over it, the rest is mine. Thank you very much.

If you put this to the scale of large multinational companies, of course Governments will do everything they can to get their hands on a lump sum of tax money. After all it's always easy for them to increase revenue by tax increase than it is to stop the bleeding of money into party lobbies and all sorts of personal agendas. It's theft over eliminating corruption any time!
 
Benjamins said:
in this case, it's not even tax avoidance. Apple is just keeping money made overseas at overseas. No reason why Apple should pay foreign tax, bring the cash back to US, pay US tax, and send it back out to other countries for expansion.
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Good point.
 
bedifferent said:
I'm certainly not debating this fact, my comment was in regard to McCain's hypocrisy as his past actions as far back at the early-mid 1980's and his 2008 campaign contributions are rather ironic in his dealings in these hearings. Additionally, I addressed Rand Paul's hypocrisy with sources.

Again, this is not a Democrat vs. Republican point. I have conceded both parties are far from angelic. I do take issues with McCain and Rand Paul grandstanding when their actions in no way make them qualified to head this "campaign". :)

Read my [lengthy] comment. :)

I removed some commentary to stay on topic and realized some of it was personal belief. Again, I'm not disagreeing with you at all.
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Several of your comments sure seem partisan to me, but perhaps it is just my misinterpretation.

As far as McCain goes, yeah, he is a hypocrite on a lot of levels. As for Rand Paul, I don't see a problem with how he conducted himself in this hearing or any hypocrisy. McCain and Paul are not taking the same position in this hearing.

Also, what does the link to an article about Paul Ryan have to do with Rand Paul? You posted the following:

bedifferent said:
The truth about Rand Paul:

Analysis: GOP fiscal vision prioritizes enormous tax cuts for rich over deficit Published: March 15, 2013

Essentially, Rand wants to lower taxes for those making $3.3+ million while demanding "$6 trillion in new revenues generated by closing loopholes and deductions." TPC’s Howard Gleckman says it is “hard to imagine” how that sum could be generated, which is to say, it is “hard to imagine” how tax cuts of this size would be paid for. While I may agree with Rand in some of his ideology, I do not agree with a lot of it.
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I love how we have "hearings" when it's clear someone like Levin has made up his mind. What a waste.
 
sseaton1971 said:
Also, what does the link to an article about Paul Ryan have to do with Rand Paul? You posted the following:
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Oh ****! Completely my fault. WOW. This is a multi-tasking fail. Egg on my face. I read Paul while quickly reading after google searching "Rand Paul", and made a terrible assumption while working and skimming the article.

I will now leave this thread with whatever dignity I may have left. :eek:
 
spazzcat said:
But then we wanted things like better roads and better schools...:)
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My point wasn't that there isn't a need for some income tax or that there haven't been any benefits from it. It was simply to counter those saying we should tax the wealthiest at 90% (or whatever) simply because we used to.

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JAT said:
When do those show up?
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Better roads? 1950's, I think. Eisenhower. If I remember my freeway history, it took Dwight 50+ days to travel across the US when he was a soldier. He changed that when he was president.
 
Mac21ND said:
Only this Congress would think that paying 6 billion dollars in taxes isn't enough.
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I don't understand your comment. Oh sure - I get that you're trying to be funny. But the amount of taxes paid is irrelevant to "enough."

If you owe 10B in taxes (not saying APPLE does) - 6B isn't enough. If you owe 4B - then 6B is more than enough.

But your comment is silly in context.
 
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