Nick Shaxson ■ Apple CEO Tim Cook: wilfully not understanding tax
From the Financial Times:
“Apple’s chief executive said accusations the company was avoiding paying taxes by holding more than $180bn of its cash balances outside the US were “total political crap. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe”.
To which there is a very simple answer. They don’t owe it because they dodged it.
And Tim Cook knows this very well. In our Dictionary of Offshore Obfuscation we’ve called this the Philip Green defence – but perhaps we should rename it the Tim Cook defence.
Read more on this from Citizens for Tax Justice. Making the point, as Cook does, that the U.S. and international tax systems are also to blame.
Note that word ‘also’. The tax system is part of the problem – but so is Apple – and it’s a particularly egregious actor in this area.
So we should continue to hold their feet to the fire.
Related articles
Tax policy and gender disparity: A call to action on International Women’s Day 2024
Policy research conference: How a UN Tax Convention can address inequality in Europe and beyond
The IMF’s anti-money laundering strategy review is promising, but it all comes down to implementation
Inequality Inc.: How the war on tax fuels inequality and what we can do about it
Proposal for ‘Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation’ (BEFIT): A wrong turn in the right direction
2 February 2024
Formulary apportionment in BEFIT: A path to fair corporate taxation
31 January 2024
New Tax Justice Network podcast website launched!
People power: the Tax Justice Network January 2024 podcast, the Taxcast
As a former schoolteacher, our students need us to fight for tax justice
Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights’ call for input: “Eradicating poverty in a post-growth context: preparing for the next Development Goals”
17 January 2024