I don’t get all this gnashing of teeth about how Apple “avoids” paying what some loudmouths bray is their so-called “fair share” of taxes by keeping the bulk of its money offshore.
The law is the law. According to Apple they are applying the tax laws of various taxing jurisdictions as written and intended.
If the US government doesn’t like the fact that Apple is doing nothing wrong, it pretty much has to lump it, or change the tax code to further penalize international business and make the economy even worse than it already is.
What would be better would be to dump the tax code altogether and take us back to the simpler days pre-16th Amendment.
And dump the 17th while you’re at it. Kthxbai.
LATER: Seems Jerry Pournell has evoked Judge Learned Hand on the subject. The judge many years ago said pretty much what I did, but better and in more detail:
Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.
Rock on, Judge Hand. Rock on.
I am not sure why the Apple Execs did not stand up and in much more polite words tell Congress to go fuck themselves. I certainly would have asked why we are here? I would ask if any member of Congress (looking at you Charlie Rangel) tries to maximize his/her taxes I would like to shake your hand.
I would have said that if there was evidence Apple cheated on our taxes take it up with our legal representation and walk out.
This stuff is worse than McCarthyism. By dragging one of America’s top companies before Congress and calling Apple tax cheats by implication, it hurts the company, the brand, and ultimately sales.
As I read at C&S this morning — I don’t hate the Government, just this Government.
Rush Limbaugh said a long time ago that businesses ought to set up their own hearings and subpoena senators and congressmen to ask them just exactly what the fuck they think they’re doing in Washington.
While I think that might lead to the rise of private corporate “armies” in order to enforce the subpoenas, I’m not sure that would be a bad thing.
(BTW I don’t hold any particular brief for Apple; if I have it in my 401(k) portfolio, I don’t know about it, and there is exactly one Apple product in our household — and it wasn’t bought for my personal use. But this transcends the OS wars; I’ll gladly link arms with any fanbois out there who believe, like you and me, that Apple is being unfairly singled out and maligned by people who don’t have much room to do that singling out and maligning.)