You don't get my meaning. I'm saying, the cost of operating a business is deductible, while a you can't deduct the cost of your groceries, gas, housing, etc. from your taxes like a business can.
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Tim Cook to Testify In Front of Senate Committee Over Apple's Tax Practices
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You don't get my meaning. I'm saying, the cost of operating a business is deductible, while a you can't deduct the cost of your groceries, gas, housing, etc. from your taxes like a business can.
Maybe
Maybe the government needs to learn to trim the fat and operate within a budget instead of simply increasing the size of the black hole into which our tax dollars are paid in order to prevent the system from collapsing.
People get into an uproar because of the perception of this amount of money or that percentage being painted as "unfair" guess what, the whole system is unfair to anyone who pays taxes at all - no one gets back from the government services and protection etc equal in value to the taxes they paid into the system and so long as there is corruption and waste and cronyism and multi-billion dollar lobbyists then it will never change.
Look up "Bread and Circuses"
Maybe the government needs to learn to trim the fat and operate within a budget instead of simply increasing the size of the black hole into which our tax dollars are paid in order to prevent the system from collapsing.
People get into an uproar because of the perception of this amount of money or that percentage being painted as "unfair" guess what, the whole system is unfair to anyone who pays taxes at all - no one gets back from the government services and protection etc equal in value to the taxes they paid into the system and so long as there is corruption and waste and cronyism and multi-billion dollar lobbyists then it will never change.
Look up "Bread and Circuses"
Prepare for another drop in AAPL stock. Every time Tim Cook opens his mouth, the stock drops. Just watch...
Do you have a job? Do you work hard for your money? If so, tell me why you want to take a big chunk of that hard earned money and throw it down the Government tax RatHole. Do you actually believe you get a good return from the Government on the money you pay? Or do you just believe everyone who has more money than you should kick in to help raise your standard of living? Just wondering...
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
How can we be at post #80 in this one and no one has suggested that Apple should just buy the United States? 
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Got to love all these useful idiot CONservatives/Libertarians. These guys really have no idea what it means to live in a country or community where everyone contributes to towards each other's well being. The only kind of freedom they're concerned with is their freedom to oppress everyone in the community while they reap the benefits. You want even a sliver of what they have, well you can't have it!
What's wrong with paying taxes towards something well all use? For example, our roads, public roads that lead from house to house and to their beloved corporations. How would they feel if instead of paying taxes to use these roads that the moment anyone steeped out of their house, they would have to pay a toll at the end of their driveway? Another is the taxes that go towards our public schools. Without some sort of education infrastructure, corporations like Apple would have no pool of talented people to draw from that allows them to make the products we all use.
To the anti-tax people out there, you can't have it both ways where all you do is take and give nothing back in return. In fact, more should be given back to the community because it is the populace that not only gave the opportunity to make a product but the community also buys those products thus keeping the company in business.
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Great, because I'm glad I got out of my position near the highs during its recent rally upward and I'll be ready to get back in at these lows so I can make more money.
LOL!!!! 50% of this country pays ZERO taxes and the top 1% pay about 30% of ALL TAXES.
I agree with the statement, folks need to step up and pay their fair share!!
I agree with you and I bet you won't have any takers. No one wants to pay more than they are legally entitled to under the current US tax codes but individuals think that business should be charities instead and give money away. Love this line of thinking. And please don't say it's liberalism. I am a liberal and even I don't believe people or businesses should pay more than is required under the law. If the law doesn't suit your needs, change it by electing representatives who will do something about it.
The US Tax Code has been used by the government to drive business behavior for decades. As long as they continue to play that game with the law, companies owe it to their shareholders to look for ways around the manipulation the government intends.
It's really a simple thing to fix.
Strip the tax code of all it's attempts at social engineering.
Don't penalize a company for foreign earnings.
Let companies focus on creating and selling insanely great products all over the world.
Those socialists among you need to go run your own business for a while and quit whining about other people paying their fair share, or the evil of big business. Grow up.
The US government has forced companies like Apple to literally move billions in investment capital overseas. They refuse to correct the problem, so corporations build up their foreign infrastructures at the expense of US jobs and tax revenue.
Your government caused this to happen. They can fix it if they want, but not with penalties. That's just childish thinking.
It's really a simple thing to fix.
Strip the tax code of all it's attempts at social engineering.
Don't penalize a company for foreign earnings.
Let companies focus on creating and selling insanely great products all over the world.
Those socialists among you need to go run your own business for a while and quit whining about other people paying their fair share, or the evil of big business. Grow up.
The US government has forced companies like Apple to literally move billions in investment capital overseas. They refuse to correct the problem, so corporations build up their foreign infrastructures at the expense of US jobs and tax revenue.
Your government caused this to happen. They can fix it if they want, but not with penalties. That's just childish thinking.
Solution:
1. Flat tax for everyone with no loopholes whatsoever.
2. It will never happen.
Why? Because there are far too many tax accountants and tax lawyers with a lot of clout who will never permit it to happen. They would all be out of work.
For any real change to happen it will take a major financial meltdown where everyone starts from scratch. Unlikely this will ever happen either. So relax and enjoy yourself things could be a lot worse.
What does Tim Cook know about tax code anyway? I would think Apple has someone who deals with this who could better explain things. Or I guess they could just give Tim the cliff notes to read from.
Precisely! Has nothing to do with conservatism or being a liberal. If Apple was illegally evading taxes they should be punished. They are not, nor is Google who does the same exact thing.
This is just wrong.
Apple would get tax credits for any taxes paid overseas - there is no double taxation.
For example, if Apple paid 10% to the foreign government, and would have owed 20% on those profits in the US - the US tax bill would be for 10%.
almost exactly right...that's CRONY capitalism, not capitalism. Big companies love more regulation and more complex laws, because, as you said, they have the resources to exploit the loopholes, and pay for compliance costs. the little guys always lose from more regulation and more taxes...the small businesses will have to pay a larger portion of their income on compliance and tax expenses, thereby making it more difficult to grow and compete with the big guys.
why do you think amazon supports the internet sales tax?? the tax will INCREASE amazons compliance costs to collect and track sales taxes in thousands of jurisdictions...but those compliance costs will be a relatively small increase in expense compared to the increase in expense that a small business will have to bear.
liberals love to say junk like "pay your fair share" etc. what they don't see is that more laws, more taxes, more regulation causes small businesses to pay way MORE than their fair share, and causes big businesses to pay less than their fair share. simplify the tax code by eliminating all business and personal income taxes and replace it with a consumption tax with food, medicine, and clothing from thrift stores tax exempt. that way, nobody can get around not paying taxes on things they choose to buy.
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Solution:
1. Flat tax for everyone with no loopholes whatsoever.
2. It will never happen.
Why? Because there are far too many tax accountants and tax lawyers with a lot of clout who will never permit it to happen. They would all be out of work.
For any real change to happen it will take a major financial meltdown where everyone starts from scratch. Unlikely this will ever happen either. So relax and enjoy yourself things could be a lot worse.
I agree with you on point 1 but disagree on point 2. That's like saying that we should outlaw shovels and force workers to dig with spoons because that would create more jobs. If we eliminate the need for tax accounts/tax lawyers, those same individuals would be put to more productive use (not overnight, but eventually, the free market would direct people to acquiring more valuable skills). I guess the problem is in the mean time, the tax workers would be temporarily out of work, which is probably what will prevent something like the flat tax from coming about...lobyists always vouch for more taxes/regulation so that tax money can be wasted on their constituents.
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good point, except there are some winners and some losers. most of us will lose as a result of taxes and get back a small fraction of what we paid in. the corrupt politicians and the overpaid government workers/government contractors will be the "winners" and will get back much more than what they pay.
You make too much sense for the whiners here to comprehend.
What is a fair share? Business does not do fair. It makes money and money is like vapor. The slightest wind and it will go where it is the safest from being grabbed by whomever, especially revenue hungry governments.
All corporations have experts who will run rings around any politician when it comes to tax codes.
Companies will only pay what is legally necessary and NO US government now or in the future will be able to put the tax jeannie THEY created back into the bottle.
So, stop whining people!
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
There not seeking experts on tax code. They're looking to strike a little fear in a major company leader so that campaign contributions from that company step up. Think "shake down" not "solutions". The last company that called the bluff- AT&T- got broken up and only now has managed to put itself back together again. Since then, everyone else seem to get the message and understands that when the politicians want some extra money, toss it to them and "problems" like this fade away.
Apple is swimming in cash and cash flow. Uncle Sam is just checking in to see if Apple wants it to stay that way or if they want new legislation to put a harder pinch on the business than Samsung, etc ever could.
Got to love all these useful idiot CONservatives/Libertarians. These guys really have no idea what it means to live in a country or community where everyone contributes to towards each other's well being. The only kind of freedom they're concerned with is their freedom to oppress everyone in the community while they reap the benefits. You want even a sliver of what they have, well you can't have it!
What's wrong with paying taxes towards something well all use? For example, our roads, public roads that lead from house to house and to their beloved corporations. How would they feel if instead of paying taxes to use these roads that the moment anyone steeped out of their house, they would have to pay a toll at the end of their driveway? Another is the taxes that go towards our public schools. Without some sort of education infrastructure, corporations like Apple would have no pool of talented people to draw from that allows them to make the products we all use.
To the anti-tax people out there, you can't have it both ways where all you do is take and give nothing back in return. In fact, more should be given back to the community because it is the populace that not only gave the opportunity to make a product but the community also buys those products thus keeping the company in business.
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The problem with paying taxes towards something we all use sounds fine and dandy in theory, but in practice, government has proven that they waste and waste and waste our tax dollars for unproductive/non-community needs. Further, libertarians are not against roads/schools/charities/healthcare for all/clean energy, clean air, etc. We just believe that the funds for such items must come from parties that have a vested interest in the success of these items, which is not the government. The government has no motivation to spend your tax dollars wisely and has every motivation to waste it, whereas the free market has every motivation to maximize the value of funds to increase quality and decrease cost. The problem is, the more taxes, the more regulations, etc., the harder it is for the free market to work naturally, so end up with a misallocation of resources. Thats what libertarians are against. Not against community and not against pooling our resources...just against the wasteful government holding guns to our heads to steal money that was earned, and squander that money on bombing foreign countries and building them back up, pet projects, special interests, etc.
With regard to "who will build the roads," why not let the free markets do it? If there is a road that needs building, let businesses and homeowners pay for the roads they need to be built. I can see how this may have been a little difficult years ago, but now, with easy pass, I would much rather pay for the roads that I use rather than pay over 30 cents/gal in gas tax plus whatever money from taxes goes to roads, which is way more than what tolls would cost even if you were charged by the mile and if free markets built the roads instead of governments. One thing I definitley don;t understand is why things like roads would be managed at the federal level at all.
Think that the government should provide "free" education? Again, why not let the free markets take that over? Look at the advancements in technology as a result of free markets. Even some of the poorest can get a free iphone 4 with a cheap contract. Imagine if education had the same freedom and economic competition as the cell phone industry. There would be tons of motivation for private education institutes to drive down costs and increase quality. Instead, our governemnt has reduced quality and increased costs exponentially year over year (again, beacause of the lack of motiviation to increase quality and the motiviation to waste our money).
Your example/rant makes NO sense..! You're comparing a company doing business/selling products in the UK, but NOT paying taxes there(Starbucks)... with a company doing business/selling products in a foreign company, but NOT paying taxes thousands of miles away, back in their home country. Huh? What? Are you making sense to yourself, even? Lol, you can't have it both ways! Are you saying that they SHOULDN'T have to pay taxes in the foreign countries? Yeah, that'd go over REALLY well with those countries... or are you saying that these companies should pay taxes first in the foreign country, and then again a SECOND time in their home country? Equally ludicrous.. Maybe if the U.S. had a "repatriation allowance window", where for a brief period of time during each year large multinational corporations could bring profits realized in other countries back into the U.S. at a discounted tax rate, they could then count on a huge economic stimulus at the same time each year. *boom* Problem solved. =)
Let's see...
Ok, so you want companies to pay more taxes to the US of A govt. I see. More tax money so these idiots can blow more money and get more in debt. You would think having so much taxes would help our nation but instead, the more taxes we get, the more we spend, the more in debt we get.
Living the American dream, er, fantasy. It should be the US of D (United States of Debt).
Ok, so you want companies to pay more taxes to the US of A govt. I see. More tax money so these idiots can blow more money and get more in debt. You would think having so much taxes would help our nation but instead, the more taxes we get, the more we spend, the more in debt we get.
Living the American dream, er, fantasy. It should be the US of D (United States of Debt).
I've commented a lot here and I was going to leave it, but I just saw this pertinent news item:
Amazon UK paid £2.4m tax on £4bn sales last year
So Amazon UK were transferring all their profits from UK purchases to Luxembourg. All the while they were receiving government grants that were in fact higher than the tax they paid. Effectively, the UK paid them to operate there!
All of those people arguing that Apple isn't doing damage to the US economy or that the companies shouldn't be held responsible need to stop and think about it again. These kinds of tax regimes do real damage to the economy, depriving the government of real money to pay for real things like teachers, schools and roads.
Also spare a thought for the number of small businesses in the UK who have shut down because they can't afford to compete with Amazon. Those represent people whose lives and livelihoods have been squashed as a result of practices like these. Imagine you were forced to shut down your book store, lost your home, couldn't afford to feed your kids, because your customers have all gone to Amazon.
You have to realise that this is doing untold amounts of damage to our economies and our lives.
The story is about Amazon in the UK, but the wider story is about multinationals (including Apple) who are doing real damage to the places we live in by artificially reducing their tax bills.
You may say they have an obligation to the short-term interests of their shareholders (apparently that obligation stops at making a profit). But do they have no other obligations at all? To the country they're operating in? To the customers they serve? To the societies they destroy through practices like these? To humanity in general?
I don't accept that these companies can focus on making ever greater profits and take no responsibility for what they do to get there. They operate in large societies where everybody has to accept responsibilities.
Unfair taxation sparked the French Revolution, and also the Boston Tea Party. Tax represents your participation in society, so it gets to people. I really hope people drive the momentum forward on this so we can see some real change.
Amazon UK paid £2.4m tax on £4bn sales last year
So Amazon UK were transferring all their profits from UK purchases to Luxembourg. All the while they were receiving government grants that were in fact higher than the tax they paid. Effectively, the UK paid them to operate there!
All of those people arguing that Apple isn't doing damage to the US economy or that the companies shouldn't be held responsible need to stop and think about it again. These kinds of tax regimes do real damage to the economy, depriving the government of real money to pay for real things like teachers, schools and roads.
Also spare a thought for the number of small businesses in the UK who have shut down because they can't afford to compete with Amazon. Those represent people whose lives and livelihoods have been squashed as a result of practices like these. Imagine you were forced to shut down your book store, lost your home, couldn't afford to feed your kids, because your customers have all gone to Amazon.
You have to realise that this is doing untold amounts of damage to our economies and our lives.
The story is about Amazon in the UK, but the wider story is about multinationals (including Apple) who are doing real damage to the places we live in by artificially reducing their tax bills.
You may say they have an obligation to the short-term interests of their shareholders (apparently that obligation stops at making a profit). But do they have no other obligations at all? To the country they're operating in? To the customers they serve? To the societies they destroy through practices like these? To humanity in general?
I don't accept that these companies can focus on making ever greater profits and take no responsibility for what they do to get there. They operate in large societies where everybody has to accept responsibilities.
Unfair taxation sparked the French Revolution, and also the Boston Tea Party. Tax represents your participation in society, so it gets to people. I really hope people drive the momentum forward on this so we can see some real change.
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People keep saying that but you forget how rigged the system is. No matter who it is they are bought and paid for by the big companies with bribes called "campaign financing"
Top it off the districts are rigged to keep getting them re-elected. For me my vote is worthless as I am in such a one sided district that it is not like it matters in a very single color state.
Tell me how does it matter.
Multinationals like Apple game the system. Hell you will see some "claim" a loss in the US but really pull in billions because the IP is over seas and they pay "fees" to themselves to the subsidiary over sees that is not taxing the IP or something like that.
Kind of hard to tax them in the US over it.
Personally I say change it. Tax the money when it leaves. Try to move it over to the subsidiary guess what it will be taxed before it leaves on the profits of said company over seas. Refuse to turn it over then it is assumed 100% profit and tax at that rate (this is only on good sold in the US and is tax as the money leaves US boarders) Money can be brought home just fine.
Also screw the tax holiday as it cost us jobs and did not help us.
no use man.. apple can do no wrong to some of these enlightened folks here.. you must assimilate!
This mentality is disgusting. The government spending is the problem....
This money is APPLE's money, not the governments or the "takers" in American society (also know as the liberal base). How about the government stop throwing away $500M here, $1B here to crap like Fisker, and green energy. Stop throwing away millions on discovering how shrimp do running on treadmills. The money this administration is stealing and spending is criminal...
Unfortunately, there are so may takers and lemmings voting for the liberals in America, we are doomed to crash and burn before anything gets better. There is not enough of other peoples money and other companies money to give away.
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