USA - Apple - Tax Evasion: "A Rose By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose Mr. Cook".

Apple Chairman Timothy Cook defended his company before the US Congress yesterday, denying that his company used “gimmicks” to dodge billions in corporate taxes.

An earlier US Senate report found that three of Apple's subsidiaries in Ireland have no official tax residence, meaning they pay little or no taxes to any government.

One entity, Apple Operations International, made up 30 percent of the company's total worldwide net income from 2009 to 2011 but did not pay any corporate income tax to any government during that time period, the report said.

The company also used cost-sharing agreements to shift billions of dollars in economic intellectual property rights to its offshore subsidiaries, according to the report. But the legal rights to its intellectual property remained in the U.S., allowing the company to take advantage of strong U.S. legal protections, the investigators said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the panel's ranking member, accused Apple of being one of the largest tax avoiders in the US.

“By engaging in these elusive corporate strategies aimed at deferring and reducing tax payments, Apple’s tax department has given new meaning to the company’s old slogan, quote: ‘Think different,’" he said.

What Mr. Cook did not say was that his company used legally established tax loopholes by foreign countries such as Ireland to avoid paying higher US taxes. Clever accounting, maybe, but  whatever way you turn the coin ", a Rose by any other name is still a Rose ".

EU-Digest