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Apple CEO Criticizes Tax Code

jonny5

jonny5

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Apple CEO calls overseas tax rap "political crap" - CBS News

pple pays more because its makes the most money of any corporation on its ubiquitous products that are best sellers around the world. Two-thirds of Apple's revenue comes from overseas says Cook. Like most U.S. multinational corporations, Apple keeps that overseas income in foreign subsidiaries, to avoid U.S. taxes. He says he would "love to" repatriate it but he can't "because it would cost me 40 percent [in taxes] to bring it home. And I don't think that's a reasonable thing to do," he says. "This is a tax code, Charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. It's backwards. It's awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago. It's past time to get it done."
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Interesting comments which supports conservative arguments that the tax code is driving businesses out of the country. American companies would love to pay taxes here, but not if they can pay less somewhere else. Personallly I think we should do away with corporate taxes altogether (other than fees for specific services), especially since they are a small part of taxes. Better to leave that money with business to pass on as consumer savings, salaries (which are taxed), or expansion.
 
Haha, corporations would love to pay taxes, as long as it's hardly anything! Our most successful period of economic growth happened when the tax rate was 70-90% on corporations. Then with the technology of the late 1970s, that's when they started moving off shore. I hope if they leave, the make their headquarters wherever they move, and not just outsource the labor.

That should be illegal.
 
If we did not run one of the highest statutory corporate tax rates going, yet create so many "political gifts" to lower that liability but in the most unbalanced way, all of this could be avoided.

But hell no... so few want to talk about the relationship of tax rate to tax code, big business to big government gifts, and how upping corporate rate rates does absolutely nothing but make matters worse.
 
Not the only does the US not have much higher taxes, it also has the most complex tax code is the world, no wonder companies do not want to pay taxes in the US.
 
Shadowless said:
Haha, corporations would love to pay taxes, as long as it's hardly anything! Our most successful period of economic growth happened when the tax rate was 70-90% on corporations. Then with the technology of the late 1970s, that's when they started moving off shore. I hope if they leave, the make their headquarters wherever they move, and not just outsource the labor.

That should be illegal.
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70%-90% was the top tax bracket for individuals at that time. Imagine if you had pay 0.70$-0.90$ on every dollar your company made, most would struggle to stay in business let alone stay in the US. The US cannot compete with other nations with such a high corporate tax rate, you cannot blame them for wanting to leave. That is what corporations are doing they are moving their legal headquarters out of the country, for example Google and Apple both have their "legal headquarters" in Ireland because they have a much lower tax rate.
 
jonny5 said:
Interesting comments which supports conservative arguments that the tax code is driving businesses out of the country. American companies would love to pay taxes here, but not if they can pay less somewhere else. Personallly I think we should do away with corporate taxes altogether (other than fees for specific services), especially since they are a small part of taxes. Better to leave that money with business to pass on as consumer savings, salaries (which are taxed), or expansion.
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That's an incredibly dishonest analysis by the CEO of Apple, because he's openly lying to the American public right now (What do you expect of a CEO though?). The effective US corporate tax is cheaper than all of our main trading allies, according to studies made by the Congressional Research Service. So he's just completely full of **** when he says this. American corporations pay less and less; and they make more and more; and every year they contribute smaller amounts to the American government, all whilst using every ounce of America's government (military and otherwise) to further their economic goals.
 
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Carjosse said:
70%-90% was the top tax bracket for individuals at that time. Imagine if you had pay 0.70$-0.90$ on every dollar your company made, most would struggle to stay in business let alone stay in the US. The US cannot compete with other nations with such a high corporate tax rate, you cannot blame them for wanting to leave. That is what corporations are doing they are moving their legal headquarters out of the country, for example Google and Apple both have their "legal headquarters" in Ireland because they have a much lower tax rate.
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It appears you're correct, thanks for replying. You're right about corporate rates, but the individual rates need to be back up at 70-90%. We are losing too much revenue.
 
Shadowless said:
It appears you're correct, thanks for replying. You're right about corporate rates, but the individual rates need to be back up at 70-90%. We are losing too much revenue.
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Rates could be increased but not to that ludicrous level, it is much easier to move people and money these days than it was in the 1950s and 60s it is much easier to move you and/or your fortune to Switzerland, Bermuda, or Liechtenstein where you pay little to no tax. All having a tax rate that high would do is drive away all the wealthy people's money. You have to find the tax rate that maximizes revenue while not driving away the people you are trying to tax.
 
Shadowless said:
Haha, corporations would love to pay taxes, as long as it's hardly anything! Our most successful period of economic growth happened when the tax rate was 70-90% on corporations. Then with the technology of the late 1970s, that's when they started moving off shore. I hope if they leave, the make their headquarters wherever they move, and not just outsource the labor.

That should be illegal.
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Corporate taxes rates have never been 70-90%.. ever.

the highest rate ever enacted was 52%

we now charge 35% ( it's been roughly the same since 1993).... in a substantially larger economy.
 
Thrilla said:
Corporate taxes rates have never been 70-90%.. ever.

the highest rate ever enacted was 52%

we now charge 35% ( it's been roughly the same since 1993).... in a substantially larger economy.
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I think if we dramatically raise income taxes, we would even lower the corporate rate. That's how many European countries provide an excellent quality of life, but still have businesses flocking in. The US tries to have it both ways.
 
Shadowless said:
It appears you're correct, thanks for replying. You're right about corporate rates, but the individual rates need to be back up at 70-90%. We are losing too much revenue.
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wrong... not only have the corporate rates never been that high, the federal government brings in substantially more corporate income tax revenue now than ..well...ever before in our history.
 
Thrilla said:
wrong... not only have the corporate rates never been that high, the federal government brings in substantially more corporate income tax revenue now than ..well...ever before in our history.
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I am talking about income tax....we cut corporate tax, but lose on the income tax which would bring more and prevent income inequality reaching the levels we see today.
 
Shadowless said:
I think if we dramatically raise income taxes, we would even lower the corporate rate. That's how many European countries provide an excellent quality of life, but still have businesses flocking in. The US tries to have it both ways.
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the federal income tax....corporate and individual... should be abolished entirely, truth be told.
there are much better taxation schemes available

i'm curious, what do feel the goal in substantially increasing taxes is?
 
Carjosse said:
70%-90% was the top tax bracket for individuals at that time. Imagine if you had pay 0.70$-0.90$ on every dollar your company made, most would struggle to stay in business let alone stay in the US. The US cannot compete with other nations with such a high corporate tax rate, you cannot blame them for wanting to leave. That is what corporations are doing they are moving their legal headquarters out of the country, for example Google and Apple both have their "legal headquarters" in Ireland because they have a much lower tax rate.
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It was never on every dollar. It was only the top marginal rate.
 
jonny5 said:
Interesting comments which supports conservative arguments that the tax code is driving businesses out of the country. American companies would love to pay taxes here, but not if they can pay less somewhere else. Personallly I think we should do away with corporate taxes altogether (other than fees for specific services), especially since they are a small part of taxes. Better to leave that money with business to pass on as consumer savings, salaries (which are taxed), or expansion.
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He is talking horse****.

Apple is the biggest swindler company out there. They avoid billions in taxes every year because they hide their money overseas in tax havens and use Ireland (for now) to funnel those profits there.

Apple could take that money back to the US, but of course they would have to pay the difference in the tax rate overseas vs the US tax rate.. so that would be a problem, since they did not pay much overseas!

The problem is not the US corporate tax rate or system.. sure it could be lower, but it would never be low enough for Apple or the big corporations since they barely pay anything.

No the problem is that the world still allow tax havens to exist. The EU has finally told Ireland to get their act together and so they have.. too late though if you ask me. Now there are all the other tax havens that EU countries have.. mostly French and British... but guessing we are not gonna see anything done about those.

I live in a part of the world where there is a tax haven 70 or so miles down the road. It is so insane that billionaires only have to own a stinky apartment in Gibraltar to be allowed to be registered there. Do they live there? LOL who would, it is a **** hole. No they live in multi-million dollar estates in Spain or on their yachts in Puerto Banus or elsewhere, but their income is basically not taxed.

If you want to fix this problem.. hunt down the tax havens... then you will start fixing the problem. And FYI, you even got minor tax heavens in the US, that screw over states and local communities big time. Ever wonder why so many big corporations are registered in Delware or in some small Californian town?
 
PeteEU said:
He is talking horse****.

Apple is the biggest swindler company out there. They avoid billions in taxes every year because they hide their money overseas in tax havens and use Ireland (for now) to funnel those profits there.

Apple could take that money back to the US, but of course they would have to pay the difference in the tax rate overseas vs the US tax rate.. so that would be a problem, since they did not pay much overseas!

The problem is not the US corporate tax rate or system.. sure it could be lower, but it would never be low enough for Apple or the big corporations since they barely pay anything.

No the problem is that the world still allow tax havens to exist. The EU has finally told Ireland to get their act together and so they have.. too late though if you ask me. Now there are all the other tax havens that EU countries have.. mostly French and British... but guessing we are not gonna see anything done about those.

I live in a part of the world where there is a tax haven 70 or so miles down the road. It is so insane that billionaires only have to own a stinky apartment in Gibraltar to be allowed to be registered there. Do they live there? LOL who would, it is a **** hole. No they live in multi-million dollar estates in Spain or on their yachts in Puerto Banus or elsewhere, but their income is basically not taxed.

If you want to fix this problem.. hunt down the tax havens... then you will start fixing the problem. And FYI, you even got minor tax heavens in the US, that screw over states and local communities big time. Ever wonder why so many big corporations are registered in Delware or in some small Californian town?
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It is most definitely the US tax rate and system, their tax rate is much higher than other developed countries and their tax code is by far the most complicated in the world. There is no way the US will ever be able to compete with Ireland, the UK, or Canada. If you owned a large corporation you would want to pay taxes in the US at almost double the tax rate you could somewhere else? There is nothing wrong with a company wanting to move their headquarters to pay less tax.
 
MTAtech said:
It was never on every dollar. It was only the top marginal rate.
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If the corporate tax was 70-90% it would be, I said that was only a personal income tax rate at a high bracket.
 
Shadowless said:
Haha, corporations would love to pay taxes, as long as it's hardly anything! Our most successful period of economic growth happened when the tax rate was 70-90% on corporations. Then with the technology of the late 1970s, that's when they started moving off shore. I hope if they leave, the make their headquarters wherever they move, and not just outsource the labor.

That should be illegal.
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Mythical bull****. Nobody paid those rates. Libs love to decry, LOOPHOLES! LOOPHOLES! Well, loopholes and tax shelters were very much the way is was in those days. So please......
 
Shadowless said:
It appears you're correct, thanks for replying. You're right about corporate rates, but the individual rates need to be back up at 70-90%. We are losing too much revenue.
Click to expand...

Again, nobody paid those rates.
 
jonny5 said:
Interesting comments which supports conservative arguments that the tax code is driving businesses out of the country. American companies would love to pay taxes here, but not if they can pay less somewhere else. Personallly I think we should do away with corporate taxes altogether (other than fees for specific services), especially since they are a small part of taxes. Better to leave that money with business to pass on as consumer savings, salaries (which are taxed), or expansion.
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They don't pay any tax in Australia either. Where do they pay tax exactly?

I hear apple stock is down. IPhone sales are going to drop off and the apple watch was a disaster. It seems that apple has peaked. Times are tough for apple - maybe that is why they go out of their way to avoid paying tax.
 
Carjosse said:
It is most definitely the US tax rate and system, their tax rate is much higher than other developed countries and their tax code is by far the most complicated in the world. There is no way the US will ever be able to compete with Ireland, the UK, or Canada. If you owned a large corporation you would want to pay taxes in the US at almost double the tax rate you could somewhere else? There is nothing wrong with a company wanting to move their headquarters to pay less tax.
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The US can easily compete with the UK and Canada on corporate tax. There are so many freaking loopholes in the US system that the effective rate is far lower than the one that everyone talks about. Add to that the market size and it aint a problem.

However no one can compete with a system like the Double Irish and other tax haven places and practices. You do understand that the Irish have been money launders basically. They collect very little on the taxes.. their tax rate is 12% , which yes is much lower then the US, but only a fraction of the money say Apple earns is taxable in Ireland and that money is moved to tax havens where there is next to no taxes.

At the core of the problem is tax havens. Could the US system be easier and lower taxes on paper? Sure but that system already has a ton of loopholes so why bother? Like it or not, Apple will never ever take home that money they got stashed in the Caymans and other places.. because that would mean paying taxes on the money.... 32% now or 20%.. still too much for them.
 
Thrilla said:
wrong... not only have the corporate rates never been that high, the federal government brings in substantially more corporate income tax revenue now than ..well...ever before in our history.
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There is a simple reason for that.... the profits are at the highest level in history..
 
cut the corporate rate to be competitive with Europe, collect it from every corporation, not just the small ones, and close the loopholes / headquartering schemes that allow them to dodge it. make up the difference by taxing all individual income as income above a cap. that's what i support.
 
Shadowless said:
Haha, corporations would love to pay taxes, as long as it's hardly anything! Our most successful period of economic growth happened when the tax rate was 70-90% on corporations. Then with the technology of the late 1970s, that's when they started moving off shore. I hope if they leave, the make their headquarters wherever they move, and not just outsource the labor.

That should be illegal.
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They would rather pay taxes in the US than somewhere else. And there has never been a 90% coporate tax rate.
 
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