Non-profit group Fair Tax has accused Apple of ‘poor tax conduct’ for using aggressive tax avoidance measures to reduce its overall tax rate to 17.1% over the past decade, less than half the official corporate tax rate of 35%…
Corporate tax is levied only on profits, so after all operating expenses and investments have been deducted from total revenue.
To be clear, Apple is not accused of any legal wrong-doing. Unlike tax evasion, tax avoidance is perfectly legal – but does mean there is less money to spend on public services and infrastructure, says Fair Tax.
Of the six US tech giants accused of not paying their fair share, Apple isn’t ranked as one of the worst offenders. Indeed, it gets the second-best report after Microsoft. Its tax payments do, however, represent a significantly lower percentage of its profits than most businesses, especially on overseas income.
We want a future where all businesses are proud to pay their fair share of tax [but] profits continue to be shifted to tax havens, especially Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands […]
When multinational corporations abuse their tax responsibilities to society, they weaken the supports that our economies need to work well and create wealth.
Fair Tax suggests it is in the long-term financial interests of big tech to pay a fair amount of tax, to avoid future financial shocks and damage to their brand image.
More than 130 countries have agreed on the need for global tax reform, including ensuring that companies pay tax in each of the countries in which they operate.
We are currently awaiting a decision on the appeal by Apple and Ireland against the €13B ($14.5B) tax ruling.
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