Apple is Accused of Sending Billions Offshore to Avoid Australia Tax

[RaduTyrsina]

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According to the Australian Financial Review publication, Apple has moved almost $9 billion in untaxed profits to Ireland from its Australian operations in the past 10 years. The publication has allegedly obtained 10 years worth of financial accounts for Apple Sales International, which is said to be a secretive Irish company which is at the heart of Apple’s international tax arrangements.

AFR also observes that Apple reported pretax earnings in Australia of only $88.5 million for 2013. However, the Cupertino Company had sent an estimated $2 billion of income from its Australian sales to Ireland via Singapore before that. University of Sydney senior lecturer of taxation law Antony Ting, who has been thoroughly analyzing Apple’s tax arrangements for the past years, said the following:

Newspapers have had lots of stories about tax avoidance by Microsoft and Google and Apple, but there are hardly any numbers. Now, for the first time, there are numbers for the profits that escaped from Australian tax

The same report found out that Apple Sales International company has reported a staggering amount of more than $US100 billion of profits in the last five years. Last month’s Group of 20 finance ministers met in Sydney and they have decided that the world’s top economies need to start automatically exchanging information on tax matters from 2015. High-profile US tax commentator Lee *Sheppard told the Financial Review the following:

What is truly surprising in the Apple case is its brazenness. We’re not easily shocked by *transfer pricing practices that the US government accepts, for better or worse. We’re talking gross worldwide revenues the size of the California state budget, and no tax being paid anywhere on a huge chunk of profits.

AFR also explains how the Apple Sales International company works and how Apple transfers money to it in order to avoid taxes.:

Apple Sales International extracts the bulk of Apple’s huge profits on sales outside the United States, which it claims as payments for intellectual property and intangibles. But the Irish-domiciled company has never filed its financial returns with the Companies Registrations Office in Dublin. It initially filed accounts for its parent company, Apple Operations International, which receives funds only from dividend payments and gives limited visibility into how Apple shifts profits. Since 2003 Apple Sales International has filed no financial reports at all in Ireland. When the US Permanent Subcommittee of Investigation tabled excerpts of Apple Sales International documents, Apple insisted that virtually all figures be redacted.

One man that could be responsible of this intricate tax strategy is Peter Oppenheimer, who has resigned after serving as Apple’s CFO for the past ten years. However, it’s unlikely that any changes will take place with Apple’s tax strategy after the naming of the new CFO. All in all, what Apple did is perfectly legal, but is it fair? What’s your take on this?

Source: iPhoneForums

 

[s2mikey]

Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's fair. I have a HUGE issue with companies who rake in billions and billions of dollars in profits avoiding taxes because eventually people like ME and YOU get the bill. So, when apple, Samsung, Dell, Wal Mart, whomever hides income it directly affects us folks on regular payrolls who are sitting ducks and easy to tax. We have no shelters or Cayman Island accounts to hide the money in.

So, I am ALL for changing the tax laws everywhere. They could start by simply making a Global Minimum Corporate tax that applies to everywhere in the world.
So, they can hide their income in various tiny banks on some remote island but they are still paying. That's a start.

I know the pro business, do gooders will scream "socialism" or whatever card they always play. But, this is silly and enough is enough!

 

[RaduTyrsina]

+1

 

[fb si]

The less a company is taxed, the more capital they have to expand and create jobs. In most developed countries, onerous taxation is a job killer. Good for Apple.

 

[s2mikey]

The less a company is taxed, the more capital they have to expand and create jobs. In most developed countries, onerous taxation is a job killer. Good for Apple.

They aren't creating jobs HERE though and that's what counts to me. Also, the less taxes they pay means someone else picks up the tab, primarily us worker bees on w2 payrolls. I explained that already. All this job creation talk never ends up meaning much either. They aren't creating jobs, they are lining the pockets of big investors via record breaking profits.

 

[col.bris]

I am confused by this statement. What you are saying that Apple does not create jobs in America?

 

[dhewson777]

they are lining the pockets of big investors via record breaking profits.

Is that not the goal, or should be a goal of all companies? Making a profit to pay back investors? Companies should not be penalized for making profit, they should be encouraged.

In regards to Apple and tax specifically, it is going to need government to change tax legislation so that they can collect the perceived tax they are missing out on. I don't see it as a simple thing though.

 

[AQ_OC]

It's not just apple, but most people who make lots of money do so by paying less taxes. You'll never get rich if you don't control the amount of taxes you pay. Any rich person will tell you this.

But let's not fool ourselves about rich folks creating jobs. They'd be doing the exact same thing they are doing now if they had to pay more taxes. Those interested in making money will make money regardless of the amount of taxes they pay. History has proven this. But maybe they wouldn't be so stupidly rich if they had to pay a decent wage and their fair share.

 

[s2mikey]

I am confused by this statement. What you are saying that Apple does not create jobs in America?

They obviously do but a good chunk of the manufacturing work takes place elsewhere and I have a sneaking suspicion that we could use those jobs here! Sorry, tin foil USA employment hat is on.

 

[s2mikey]

Is that not the goal, or should be a goal of all companies? Making a profit to pay back investors? Companies should not be penalized for making profit, they should be encouraged. In regards to Apple and tax specifically, it is going to need government to change tax legislation so that they can collect the perceived tax they are missing out on. I don't see it as a simple thing though.

Well, yes, shareholder payback is a big part of what a company needs to do but IMO they also have a responsibility to the community and/or countries they are established in. It seems like years ago that was exactly the case. Corporations used to provide way more jobs, benefits, pay, etc, etc which immediately boosted local economies. And, interestingly, those rich guys and companies probably do even better when the wealth is, dare I say, spread out a little more. Uh oh, I said it!

Guess what happens when a little of those billions in profit is shared with the workforce? They buy houses, cars, groceries, iPads, cellular plans, and a whole bunch of other stuff. The money flows. People are working. Taxes are being collected. Profits are being generated. And, shareholders won't go hungry, I assure you. Maybe my little utopia is unrealistic? Tell ya what though, it sure beats the current system of squeezing every nickel possible out of the company for a handful of shareholders while everything else suffers.

For the record, so my perspective is understood, I work for a medium sixes software company and have seen the carnage that ensures when the chase for profits over all else gets out of hand. I wouldn't expect shareholders to care but many of the rest of us do.