Friday, June 14, 2013

Is Apple paying its' fair share?

According to the numbers Apple is "the largest corporate income taxpayer".  How is this true when  Apple keeps much of its earnings off shore?  How is it  they are still #1 in corporate income tax?   I shutter to think what their tax liability would be if all their earnings were taxed at their current rate of 35%!  Yes, they pay a rate of 35%.  So do some individuals but that is not what this is about.  This is about Apple not paying taxes on roughly $74 billion dollars from 2009-2012.  This money was earned outside the US.   All this income was deposited in Ireland where there is virtually no tax.  Apple makes no apologies for keeping their funds on shore.  They feel they justify this behavior by providing nearly 600,000 American jobs.   It appears that we look the other way when it comes to Apple because of  the number of jobs it provides.  Instead lets look at the big picture.  35% is the top corporate tax rate.  The very top rate among advanced nations.  Shouldn't we be asking why are rates are so high and not why Apple keeps its funds elsewhere?  Wouldn't it be more logical to lower the tax rate for corporations like Apple and encourage them to bring their dollars and their jobs back to US soil?  Do we really want to continue to send "our taxable income" elsewhere? I don't!

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