After Tim Cook was called to testify in front of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, May 21st, Apple made its planned remarks public just a day before the hearing. The Cupertino-based company has not only shed light on its offshore tax practices in the testimony, but it has also given suggestions about corporate tax reform. However, it seems that US senators are not pleased with Apple’s testimony and according to 9to5Mac, “Here’s what the other side has to say via Michigan’s Carl Levin (Democrat) on the senator’s view of Apple’s tax avoidance strategy”: “Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven. Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed.”
Adding to it John McCain, a Republican Senator said that:
“Apple claims to be the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America’s largest tax avoiders. A company that found remarkable success by harnessing American ingenuity and the opportunities afforded by the U.S. economy should not be shifting its profits overseas to avoid the payment of U.S. tax, purposefully depriving the American people of revenue. It is important to understand Apple’s byzantine tax structure so that we can effectively close the loopholes utilized by many U.S. multinational companies, particularly in this era of sequestration.
I have long advocated for modernizing our broken and uncompetitive tax code, but that cannot and must not be an excuse for turning a blind eye to the highly questionable tax strategies that corporations like Apple use to avoid paying taxes in America. The proper place for the bulk of Apple’s creative energy ought to go into its innovative products and services, not in its tax department.”
Considering the aforementioned comments from the US senators about Apple’s testimony, it seems that Tuesday’s hearing is not going to be as easy as perhaps Chief Executive Officer of Apple and other executives of the company, which includes Head of Tax Operations Phillip Bullock along with Chief Financial Officer of the company Peter Oppenheimer, might have thought.
Source: 9to5Mac
Photo: Geek
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