If Apple was going to be taxed on the cash anyway then the difference to Apple is the tax savings, (old rate versus the new rate) , but the net result is Apple is taking a one time tax hit, albeit on better terms. The cash will goose the economy a little. Apple wins, but the tax shelll game is over, so that is an improvement.
1
Most of these commenters are missing the point. This is great news! "Apple, Capitalizing on New Tax Law, Plans to Bring Billions in Cash Back to U.S."
Before the new tax act, profits earned overseas were not taxable in the US until they were repatriated, and there was no requirement to repatriate. The cash was never going to be brought back to the US under the old rules--Never. That would not have been illegal, and Apple wouldn't be avoiding its "fair share" because nothing was ever owed in the US.
Many commenters seem to think that the US had a right to tax foreign profits, and that was never the case unless the cash was repatriated. Don't forget, we're talking about multinational corporations that have revenues and employees and investments all over the world, so it's not like all of their profits cycle through the USA. So yeah, under the new rules the US Treasury is getting $38 billion more than it would have ever had under the old law! And the US economy is getting $269 billion reinvested that would have otherwise been reinvested overseas. This is good news.
7
Nice try mouthpiece. The tax cuts by far benefit uber corporations like Apple. Does little for average Americans.
Sorry Trump: Apple Plans To Use Tax Cuts To Return Capital, Not Create Jobs
https://www.investors.com/news/technology/apple-signals-it-would-use-tru...
3
According to the the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy they ALREADY have between 75% and 100% of their 'offshore earnings' invested in the US.
1
Before anyone complains about the corporate tax being lowered I read somewhere that President Obama had wanted to lower the corporate tax rate to 25%. Trump lowered it to 21%. This was going to happen eventually.
5
How much is going to buybacks and dividends?
3
Please Stop President Trump! I can't take all this winning! We're winning on taxes! We're winning on immigration! We're winning on Unemployment! We're winning on the economy! etc...
4
So, Apple hiding 94% of its cash outside the U.S. now somehow equates to "a deep sense of responsibility"? Slimy.
8
Smart... not "slimy". US finally passed legislation that made it smart to bring money back.
1
Tim Cook has a deep, heartfelt responsibility to give back to "our country". Which country would that be, Tim? Ireland, one of your phony bankers? China, where you exploited workers who produced your obscenely priced digital devices? Maybe you could do what your buddy B*Z* did, narrow it down to a chosen few, say 20, before you make the final anointment. When you figure out which country is "our country" let us know.
5
So let me get this straight: If I were to store money outside the U.S. to avoid paying taxes, used millions of dollars to lobby the President and Congress to pass a tax bill so I can bring back my money at a lower tax rate, and now tried to claim publicity about what a wonderful person I am and how I'm trying to help everyone, I would be not only laughed off stage as an unfunny comic but I would be greeted with handcuffs for trying to rip the American people off and making fun of them too.
Why can't we add to the metoo movement the ustoo movement - which is the movement that counts the millions of ways rich people and corporations have screwed us by blatantly skirting the rules, changing the rules when it doesn't suit them, victim blaming us that we don't "work hard enough", and, to boot, try to paint themselves as responsible corporations who care "deeply" about the American people.
This is beyond an assault. It's a bad joke. NYT needs to broadcast front and center everyday the play by play of the robbing of the American people as meticulously as it does bozo the clown's robbing of the American people's dignity, which in fact distracts us from seeing his right hand slipping inside our pockets and purses to pull out our collective wallets.
7
I remember in the 80s having so much respect and affection for the Apple products. It is especially disheartening to see how they have become a predator company. More reason not to use a smartphone for me. Few people realize how few jobs are created in the United States by tech companies like Apple.
5
Surely this wouldn't encourage companies to again move cash overseas and wait out another giveaway! They wouldn't do that. Would they?
4
a few hi Vis news items won't change the fact that lion's share of deficit producing tax cuts were corporate not individual, as voters may eventually come to understand.
2
Good article. Only inaccurate part is about the new tax bill being the catalyst for companieslike AT&T to give employee bonuses. I've worked for AT&T over last 20 years and I've gotten a bonus at the non-management, management and executive levels every year I've been employedhere. Please stop giving Trump credit. His tax plan has nothing to do with it.
8
Except for the pesky fact that ATT said the tax bill was directly responsible. Sorry Liberals, Trump wins AGAIN!
4
let me get this right, Apple has $252B offshore. reducing their tax by $25B (approx) is the impetus for spending $200B?
Of course Trump said that. That's his MO, He takes credit for things he had no hand in. And in the opposite direction, he never takes blame for things he screws up. And yet, people can't see that?
2
Good article. Only inaccurate part is about the new tax bill being the catalyst for companieslike AT&T to give employee bonuses. I've worked for AT&T over last 20 years and I've gotten a bonus at the non-management, management and executive levels. Please stop giving Trump credit
1
With $250,000,000,000.00 CASH! Why does Apple need a tax cut? The stock market is going crazy because corporations were flush with cash. Ridiculous! Congress should be ashamed, but they have no conscience.
3
Let's run the numbers on this, so see just how puny that Apple bonus is, and just how much Republican tax cuts favor capital over labor:
Apple has about 123,000 employees.
It has announced a $2,500 bonus for them.
123,000 x $2,500 = $307,500,000 or $307.5 million.
Apple bought back $32,000,000,000 ($32 billion) in stock during 2017.
So the bonus is 1.0% of that amount.
Apple paid $12,800,000,000 ($12.8 billion) in dividends in 2017.
So the bonus is 2.4% of that amount.
I guess we know how much Apple values its employees relative to its stockholders.
P.S. For the U.S. stock market overall, the bottom 80% own about 8% of stock. The top 10% own 81% and will be the main beneficiaries of corporate tax cuts.
9
All I can say to that is that if you work for a company that provides a 401K savings plan and you are not contributing to it you are losing out. Hopefully they offer you a low fee plan.
1
Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement, “We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible.”
But only when financial terms are favorable...
4
They had a moral responsibility to wait until the financial terms were favorable. Otherwise they would have been throwing away opportunities to help both their stockholders and the country by paying unconscionably large amounts of money to the federal government, which would only waste the overwhelming bulk of the money.
3
Taxes are what pay for what the nation needs as far as infrastructure, teaching the young, healing the sick, feeding the poor. Trump's tax plan is two step, drop tax collections mightily, then say there is no money to take care of people with dementia, or who live in HUD senior housing, or who are disabled and need food stamps or doctor's care.
Apple has always played using Steve Jobs' cheap ways, and this is just them doing that. It was always going to spend that money, and if anyone really thinks trickle down will work...
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
3
Let us rise in praise of corporate moguls who dodged taxes and civic responsibilities for decades and now bless the rest of us with a smattering of their mega-dollars. All hail corporate America!
7
Like a burglar calling you up and saying they're going to drop off a few items after they stole almost everything in your house. America, where there is one set of laws for the rich and another set for everyone else. Remove political lobbying (bribery) and these issues will go away.
4
So apple is going to put some of that money toward a new domestic campus and 20,000 jobs. Hmm..... Would that be the new campus whose construction began 4 years ago and is now nearly complete, and would those 20,000 jobs be the ones it was planning on adding when the new campus opened? Or are we talking about ANOTHER new campus?
What incredible farsightedness - nothing less than we would expect from Apple.
4
How about Apple and others treat people as employees rather than contractors, and actually provide health care? The US way used to be to take care of employees with health care and pensions, and help create some financial stability in people's (and families') lives.
3
The authors omitted an important fact. Apple, and other multinationals, lobbied hard, and got a territorial tax whereby most of the foreign booked profits will either never be repatriated or repatriated with no tax. The repatriation tax was the price the multinationals have to pay for the ability to book their profits in low tax countries and never have to pay US income taxes. They're are anti abuse rules in the new law which the IRS is tasked with enforcing. However, enforcing these new rules, and all the others, will require a significant increase in the resources available to the IRS. What are the chances that Congress will approve, and the President will sign legislation to provide the additional resources? Congress can pass all the laws, rules, and regulations it wants, but their effectiveness depends on the number of people available to enforce the rules.
2
more fake news: there are other provisions in the act which will tax currently in the US all but the most routine profits of those foreign subs.
1
Not to worry - turnip is going to hire a whole bunch of new IRS agents just to deal with California. So California based Apple should be very afraid - as soon as those new agents finish auditing every personal return in this heavily blue state, they will get right onto Apple's case. Maybe even before Pence's second term.
1
I have yet to read any report which identifies Apple’s commitment to repatriate any specific amount of dollars. Given this article clearly states that their offshore holdings are subject to the new, reduced rate regardless of where such holdings “reside”, why are so many reporters claiming that much or most of these holdings will find their way to the U.S.? Wishful thinking?
3
The dollars never left. They're still in banks in NYC and London and other places.
1
Just a quick back of the envelope with a pencil...21% of 252 billion dollars is approximately 53 billion dollars. Why is Apple ONLY playing 38 billion in taxes?
What is going on with this new tax bill? It was sold to me as reducing corporate taxes from the outrageous level of 35% to 21%. Now I see that companies don’t even have to bother with the 21% rate?
4
actually the details of the article point out that there's a clause in the law lowering the initial tax payment to 15.5%
5
Thanks. My point being that we were sold a simplified tax system, but the reality of it is, it isn’t that simple. What happened to my postcard? What happened to closing all the loopholes?
2
More people like you need to realize that this is an evil empire that is not interested in the greater good which includes a balanced economy that supports democracy.
1
Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a statement, “We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible.”
Which is why he irresponsibly kept the vast wealth of the world's most valuable company offshore to avoid giving back.
What a role model. For greed, anyhow.
29
The loss of Steve Jobs was followed by creeping predatory behavior by Apple. Obsolescence of devices via OSX and IOS updates and price gouging such as pricing an Apple charger for $30, are examples.
I purchased a 6s Plus six months ago. It updated to iOS 11 with auto update turned off and without my request. I had 5+ hours of battery before the update, now only 3. I requested a rollback from Apple but they refused. Their behavior speaks for itself. Apple is a predator.
16
Shameful. Apple should never have been horsing cash overseas to avoid US taxes; THAT is the real issue. This is not a windfall for the US economy, this is the government collecting a reduced amount of taxes and the economy within these borders getting an injection of cash that should have been here in the first place! Tax evasion should not be an option for any person or company. As a small business owner unable to pay lawyers and managers money to evade US tax, it was an option never available to me.
This is not a success for America. This is validation that the little guy pays so the big guy can prosper, and that our laws are not designed for the little guy.
11
You may not like the behavior, but keeping cash overseas is not illegal and is not tax evasion. Tax avoidance is legal and all multinationals do it.
1
Paul,
The benefits of Apple's strategy go away with the new tax law, along with a nice break for you as a small business owner as well. How do you feel about that?
Tax dodging is legal for the corporate class because they wrote the laws Congress enacted. It remains unethical, despite the veneer of legality the purchase of Congress provides.
Wow, they present themselves as heroes for finally paying taxes. Now, will they be paying a full 21% on all profit going forth, or will they still be able to pay less than that rate, for I seriously doubt they were paying 35% on their US profit up to this point.
7
There's a huge difference between a "direct impact", and "spending" / "investment" as used in:
'Apple estimated that its direct impact on the American economy would total more than $350 billion over the next five years, but how much that goes beyond what the company would have spent anyway is unclear. Apple’s current pace of spending in the United States is $55 billion for 2018, so it was already on track to spend $275 billion over the next five years. After the $38 billion tax payment is subtracted, that leaves its new investment at roughly $37 billion over the next five years.'
No one is surprised Apple and others are 're-patriating' cash that's actually been in U.S. banks, managed by Apple's U.S. employees, but held in the name of their foreign subsidiaries:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2016-apple-profits/
who've bought U.S. government debt with those funds, meaning the U.S. government that couldn't tax the funds corporations like Apple wouldn't 're-patriate', were forced to go into debt to fund government functions, and pay interest to Apple and other corporations.
It's nice the "capital on strike" crowd that John Boehner celebrated is ending its strike:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-s-mcelvaine/capital-strike_b_96540...
but no one should be fooled at what's been happening and how it's damaged Americans who depend on government services.
11
It appears that tax-evading Apple now lucks out with a tax break on income which should taxed at 35%. Is there a company out there which is more avaricious than Apple?
6
Do you use and benefit from smartphones on a daily basis? That avaricious company essentially invented the concept which has made the lives of hundreds millions of people easier, not only in the US, but across the world. Capitalism at work.
Countries are free to set tax rates, and companies are free to modify their behavior using legal means to maximize earnings. Lowering the rate created a win/win for companies and the government alike, I don't see what the problem is.
3
Apple, and other giant multinational enterprises, used their political clout to get a supine and ill informed Congress to pass legislation favorable to these companies. These companies were able to defer paying their tax liabilities for years with no interest. Now they get to repay their tax debt at much lower rates over an eight-year period, again interest free. SWEET DEAL --use your clout to get favorable legislation and then say you're fulfilling your responsibility. Try borrowing money from a bank and paying neither principal nor interest for a number of years then leaning on the banker to reduce your interest rate. Imagine where Tim Cook would be today if Apple had borrowed the money from Tony Soprano's organization. Derring tax payments is a form of borrowing.
4
Their tax liability on those earnings was zero, so they weren't deferring anything. What the new law did was make it favorable to actually repatriate the funds, resulting in a net benefit for all involved.
The bank analogy is a false one.
Congress, ill informed? Have to agree there, voters need to hold them more accountable.
1
Apple has "a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country" but only if it get a huge tax break.
8
If , instead of bringing back a couple of billions, Apple had built in the USA, like it used to do when it made objects here, and made them well. The US might be a far more powrful and less worrisome superpower , literally waiting to look fopr the nickels, penmnies and dimes Aple execs might have dropped on the way to the office.Not that Microsoft has done better but Jobs used to assert as a point of pride that Apple computers and other products were made in the USA, unlike the mass produced junk pushed by the clone factories of all the the once big micro-computer makers like Acer or HP or IBM. All of which have gone by the wayside and have left little but shadows and ancient advertisements for equipment now long since rendered little better then decoration .
In Germany, the government's strict recycling laws have created an industry out of the garbage and useless parts of old computers so that individuals now have decent paying jobs making sure that old equipment, once aimed at garbage dumps-is now more carefully repurposed so as to reclaim precious metals and prevent the poisoning of the planet.
Where was Apple, and MS/DOS, all those years. . . ?
1
When will Apple “repatriate” jobs?
Now, you’ll never catch me chanting “USA USA USA” but I don’t find it funny that the US, which once prohibited technology transfer relies on some of Trump’s least-favored hole countries for goods critical to trivial.
These days, most “us computer co.’s send specs to China, where Foxconn, officially Taiwanese with almost all its thousands of workers in China turns out close to all our computers and parts. I don’t think a single iPhone has ever been made outside Asian ‘hole countries
Southeast Asian countries make most of US-branded televisions, tools, precision hardware, while chip making plants are scattered across the world - the reason China now owns the fastest supercomputer in the world.
A simple law would stop the outflow of technology, good jobs, and the inability of the US to make anything from key government-needed parts to toasters: All employees of firms exporting goods to the US, would be paid the same money and benefits they’d get if their plants were where they once were. The cost of switching from slave labor to middle class would be borne by the owners, who got huge tax breaks for moving out, not their customers.
Maybe grant some government aid for companied that bring their ‘hole workers here, where the”d become very loyal US residents, then citizens.
And putting plants in ‘flyover states’ would stop being such bigots if they actually met folks coming here three generations after they did.
4
Shame on you NYT for playing politics again! Here are the plain facts: Apple and other companies with significant cash overseas were never going to repatriate this cash to the US and so NO taxes would ever be collected by the US on that cash or their continued vast ex-US earnings under the old tax laws. Now they are paying $38 billion in taxes (which they would previously never have), they are repatriating $250+ Billion, which will one way or the other end up in the US economy and they will have to pay a 21% tax on all their future ex-US earnings (which previously was zero). This is huge. Apple is just one example. Others will follow. Plus “inversions” will never recur now. There is is no incentive for companies to try to redomicile their HQs overseas to avoid US income tax. The sole purpose behind Pfizer’s $100 BN+ attempt to buy Allergan was to avoid US taxes. They will never do that deal now.
The statement below from your article is a falsehood. Apple has not saved a single dollar in taxes. They never intended to return their cash to the US, which the company had publicly clearly stated before, so there never would have been any US tax to pay. So no, this is a theoretical argument by some political think tank, which has no truth to it.
“By shifting the money under the new terms, Apple has saved $43 billion in taxes, more than any other American company, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research group in Washington.”
11
Apple, and other multinationals did not just obey the laws; they were instrumental in getting the legislation passed. Deferring paying their tax liability without interest is a good deal for the companies. However, if you owe the IRS a tax debt try telling the auditor you'll pay it when you can repatriate your funds from a tax haven at a much lower rate. I'll bake you a cake with a file in it.
5
Please don’t be so naive to think companies and politicians are altruistic. Companies’ sole purpose for existence is to maximize returns for its shareholders. This is not opinion but stated fact. Politicians are only motivated by reelection and how to get votes. That’s why the Dems will try to convert illegal immigrants to citizens and the Republicans will try to curry favor with companies. If you don’t like it, you can change it. Stop voting for career politicians. Then maybe things can be moderated to a reasonable middle ground.
1
" Apple and other companies with significant cash overseas were never going to repatriate this cash to the US and so NO taxes would ever be collected by the US on that cash "
Vik , think again. European Commission is taking Ireland to court as Apple's $15bn tax ...
https://9to5mac.com/2017/10/04/european-commission-ireland-tax-ruling/
Oct 4, 2017 - Both Apple and Ireland are appealing the rulings although Ireland did say it would collect the money begrudgingly in the meantime. Apparently. that didn't happen. Today, the Commission said that Ireland has still not received the money from Apple and is now taking legal action to pursue.
1
Under the old tax rules, money earned overseas was not taxable in the USA until it was brought back home (repatriated). It wasn’t illegal, and foreign cash wasn’t “hidden” as commenters suggest. It’s been reported publicly in public financial statements every year. And don’t forget, it was also taxed by the country in which it was earned.
What right should the US have to tax profits on Apple’s sales of iPhones in Australia, which were manufactured in China, just because the headquarters is in Cupertino? Tax reform has many flaws related to individuals, but these changes to corporate tax are changes for the better.
4
The sequestered funds could have been repatriated with action by Congress without loss of tax income. but NO, repubs following the money made it profitable for corps to pay lobbyists to work for windfall.
11
That is hilarious! So you're suggesting the government could somehow force a private enterprise to repatriate earnings for it's benefit. Sorry, this isn't Venezuela. Unbelievable!
1
The idea that Apple was "hoarding money overseas" and will now "bring back the vast majority of the $252 billion in cash" is mistaken. While the money, very little of it cash, was on the books of Apple's foreign subsidiaries, foreign individuals and corporations are free to invest in the U.S. with no tax liability. (That's why the Republican corporate tax cut was a huge give away to foreigners. The Tax Policy Center says foreigners own 35% of all C corporation equity. Their dividends and gains maybe taxed but not by the United States.)
Most of Apple's $252 billion is not cash and it may have been invested in the U.S. In its 10-K filing for its fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, Apple said that its financial assets, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, worldwide totaled $269 billion. Only $7 billion of that was cash, invested in money market and other mutual funds either in the U.S. or elsewhere. $55 billion was invested in U.S. Treasury securities, $5 billion in U.S. Agency securities, and only $8 billion in non-U.S. government securities. The rest was invested in categories that could either be in the U.S. or elsewhere. $6 billion in bank certificates of deposit and other time deposits, $4 billion in commercial paper, $153 billion in corporate bonds, $1 billion in municipal bonds, and $22 billion in mortgage- and asset-backed securities.
4
Let’s not pretend that Apple’s chest – thumping is being made out of any sense of corporate magnanimity or patriotism. As the article points out, Apple has been hoarding it’s money overseas for years in order to avoid paying it’s share of taxes.
13
I didn't think Apple could possibly make me feel more cynical about corporations, but it does. Stash your cash abroad and wait for the tax rate to go down. Wish I could do that!
We'll just wait and see how many jobs this gang of selfish nerds creates, how much they invest in American communities -- and, in proportion, how much they give to their shareholders and themselves. I bet the lion's share will go to themselves, and if the rest of America gets anything out of it, it will be some new military junk. Not holding my breath for vast improvements in social services, schools, transportation, or other public institutions besides the military. Not while the anti-American, Republican swamp occupies Washington. They are working strictly for the oligarchs.
19
I would rather buy Samsung than give one nickel to the tax pirates.
1
So Apple is rewarded bigly for sheltering all that money offshore and, as far as I can tell, there's no reason for them, or any other highly profitable corporations, not to continue to do so until the next "repatriation holiday" comes along.
4
There are plenty of reasons-- namely the switch to a territorial taxation system, wherein profits are taxed where they are earned instead of where they are headquartered. The one time repatriation holiday was just to solve the interim issue while the transition takes place. Overall, a good move for all.
Well maybe Apple- in all its patriotism- will allocate some off their tax savings to helping the Dreamers and other immigrants who make this country great and are getting screwed by the Republicans including financially by this regressive tax bill. Or is this just a big publicity stunt and only the Apple shareholders will benefit?
8
Wow, the Trumpster master negotiator was able to actually get multi-national corporations to bring back cash by giving them a huge tax giveaway that will be paid for by W-2 wage earners and homeowners? Why didn't someone else think of that?!?? That's so great! And if those corporations voluntarily (no pressure) create enough jobs for W-2 wage earners who pay 30% or more in federal taxes, maybe in about 40 years those W-2 wage earners' taxes will make up for the 15-20% reductions given to the multi-billion dollar corporations (not including the billions given by gov't to the corporations in "economic development" money). OK, probably not - but no problem - just raise taxes on those ungrateful W-2 wage earners again, who don't realize the trouble the GOP has gone to to ensure they actually have jobs. Jeesh. But please, do not raise taxes on the 1% who get their cash from capital gains - which thankfully carry taxes of only 15-20%. It's all good! People with capital gains may also choose (keep your fingers crossed) to use that money to create jobs or at least to make an investment that will inadvertently create jobs, or hey - they have a lot of money and let's face it, they're keeping your congressman employed as we speak!
12
A company that invented NOTHING (cell phone, GPS, touch screen, internet, email, voice recognition, and so on, all paid for by taxpayer-funded R&D) gets to pay a lousy $38B on $269B hoarded abroad for years and now thinks they are heroes?
5
Invented nothing? How about the smart phone?
The blackberry was around long before the iPhone. They revolutionized the market sure, but they didn't invent the smart phone.
You probably have an argument for the ipod. They seemingly killed CDs.
So now capitalism that rewards US Citizens, industries and workers is a bad thing for the NYT to subtly damn . They, horror of horrors, are running a business like a business instead of like a socialist welfare state that enslaves people to keep them under control.
How dastardly of a United States president to support a system that created the freest, most caring and functional democracy on Earth. He must be apposed by all who value tyrants, wealthy politicians and self serving elites.
4
@Dr. Dastardly: Wow! What country are you living in? The "freest" country on earth? One where no one worries about debt or going bankrupt through a medical emergency? One where everyone earns a living wage and never has to worry about losing their home? One where representatives never take money from lobbyists or super-PACs in exchange for legislation favorable to oligarchs, and where every person's vote counts in non-gerrymandered districts? One where everyone has complete access to healthcare, where children never go hungry, and where you are free to change jobs whenever it suits you, without having to worry whether or not you'll have health insurance every year? One where all qualified students have access to affordable higher education, without having to worry about going into debt for the rest of their lives?
Where is this paradise? It's not in the United States, so you must be talking about one of those northern European countries. You know, the ones full of immigrants dying to get to the US so they can lose their health insurance, their social safety net, their free educations, and their high standards of living.
8
Alison,
What you are referring to is not freedom, but security guaranteed by government, a very important distinction.
I agree, many changes are necessary to the way things are done, however, government is not the answer.
Apple is not a hero. For years Apple has been doing everything possible to avoid paying taxes and, also, to export jobs outside the United States. Finally after more favorable laws have been passed, Apple now is taking advantage of those new laws to bring capital back to the U.S. at a lower tax rate. The Apple propaganda machine is loudly proclaiming how great this company is for America but, only after it put the screws to the country for many years by holding earnings outside the U.S.
Apple is not "contributing" anything to the U.S. It is merely comporting with new tax laws that enable saving money.
There is nothing to brag about. Apple should have done just like the rest of us and paid its taxes and created jobs in the United States.
I'm not impressed.
22
Not a Trump fan, but the tax plan is very similar to Canada's.
The next debate should be why NY,California, Massachusetts, NJ have such high taxes with bad services. Specifically minority schools in heavily democratic states.
Talking Trump is just deflection from the miss management
1
In fact the States you mentioned have among the highest level of services, and unlike the red states contribute greatly to this country.
10
Yea... saving $43 Billion from the "common good" or "contract with society." Way to go. All those BILLIONS... it is so much money you can't imagine. And they are so greedy that they screw society of $43 Billion... money for military, infrastructure, schools. Yea,... way to go. But they have no issue with this tax scam adding 1.5 TRILLION to the national debt. They love this country and have prospered very well because they operate in this country. Yet won't pay up. GREEDY CORPS.
5
Thank you President Trump.
3
This article is misleading in a way that doesn't properly give credit to the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress for getting this Tax Act passed(typical "fake news" from the NYTimes):
The article says, "Under the new tax law, companies that make a one-time repatriation of cash will be taxed at a 15.5% rate..." Actually, the new law taxes the earnings of foreign subsidiaries of US parent companies whether or not they remit the cash and as a result( at least with respect to Apple), the US government has $ 38 Billion more cash than they would have had under prior law. The article on the other hand would lead one to believe that the repatriation of the cash is a quid pro quo for the lower tax rate. 'Not true; of course who would know if you listen to Chuck Schumer when he says the Act was a give-away to corporations....
13
So we are supposed to cheer corporations for doing what they should have done all along... Pay their fair share? As far as the despicable Republicans and trump, the law was a HUGE give away on the backs of the poor and middle class. You can deny it all you want, but you know it is the truth!
6
I hope your pay drops to one dollar an hour. Hey you'll have one more dollar per hour than you had before right?
So is Apple wanting an award for patriotism? A patriotism that includes doing everything possible to avoid taxes until your dodging pays off. Welcome back to The Transactional States of America!
Is this really how shallow we've become? SAD!!!
26
Queue the liberal spin machine, trying to explain how massive repatriation of foreign assets, more job creation, and increased pay for US employees is either a hidden negative or somehow not related to the new tax code.
13
The job creation and increased pay is yet to be seen. The last time this give-away to the GREEDY corps happened, they took that cash and kept it. They didn't create jobs and they didn't increase pay. Like 45, you make up stuff and expect us to believe it. History is a better prediction.
10
Where in the world do you get 'more job creation, and increased pay'? It didn't happen last time the corporations got their tax holiday, and it won't happen this time. This money will go to the rich, who will pocket i.
Roads, national parks, bridges, and social safety net be damned, is what this tax bill should have been called.
1
I don't own any Apple products. After reading this I never will. I had no idea exactly how greedy and unpatriotic Apple is. Clearly this is capitalism at it's best and worst but it is not and never will be for anyone's benefit, least of all this country. How disingenuous to say how much he supports this country. How Trumpist. Trump owes them a big one now...that $38B is a deposit for something.
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Dear Martha, I'm in complete agreement with u and have always refused to buy Apple products due to the smugness and greed of their management. Most people don't understand my point. Glad to find a fellow traveler!
This pillaging of the public fisc is nauseating.
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Really? Just like that? How? Would someone follow up on this and keep the tax paying citizens updated? And Donald Trump’s tax return?
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Apple manufacturing, in 1984...
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/25/business/strong-sales-seen-in-84-for-a...
"...Apple last week added a second shift to its highly automated production plant in Fremont, Calif., pushing its daily potential output to more than 2,000 units...
Thank you President Trump for pushing the new Tax Law. The one time repatriation is going to be a big boost to US economy.
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This reads like a press release. Where's the honest or, at least, outside look?
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This is a great example of the benefits of this tax cut. President Trump and Congress should be thanked for their work in this area, but that is something we will never see in the good ol' NYT.
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The "benefits" of this tax cut haven't been seen yet. Let's not say it is... that's the spin machine you learned from Faux. History is a better prediction...and we know last time they had a "one time" deal, no one but the company got any benefits. No new jobs. No hire wages. And kept $43 Billion extra that could have gone for the "common good" just in case you haven't noticed how our entire infrastructure is falling apart.
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"Show us the paper..."
Well, they gambled on illegally hiding funds overseas, and it paid off bigtime. This certainly doesn't make me want to buy any Apple products.
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There was nothing illegal about it, nor were they hiding it.
Steve, there was nothing illegal about it. It was the Law.
Instead thank President Trump for fixing it. Going forward these companies are forced to pay the corporate tax rate.
And why not? It is a genuine giveaway to corporate America.
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Um, I don’t think they are bringing billions of dollars back because of the tax cuts. They are bringing billions of dollars back because the new tax laws prevent them from hiding their money overseas anymore. The tax rate should have been even higher, to avoid the deficit growth. And we’ll see how much they invest in job growth and wage increases (bonuses are not wage increases), and how much is used to reward shareholders (you know, the rich people).
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GH, give credit where credit is due. It was the Trump tax plan that brought back all this money. The rest is your opinion.
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According to Wikipedia Apple was valued at $700 Billion in 2015 and plans to be the first U.S. company to be valued at $1 TRILLION. In 2017 they had revenue of $229 Billion and had $256.8 BILLION IN CASH.
Now they're bragging they are going to pay a lousy $30 billion in taxes from the money they have been hoarding and evading taxes on and think we're supposed to cheer? When WE THE PEOPLE have been buying their grotesquesly overpriced products so they can re-sell OUR private information?
Now The Con Don and his International Mafia brethren operatives in OUR U.S. government is allowing Apple and other behemoth corporations to bring their money back to the safety of OUR U.S. treasury for next to nothing and have cut their taxes even further - and given them further tax breaks to "create jobs". Low paying jobs.
What's right with this picture? Nothing I can see.
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Evading vs avoiding, big difference. Companies have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to minimize expenses, including taxes.
Would 35% of $0 be preferable?
Low paying jobs? What's the average pay at Apple? I'd wager it's not minimum wage.
It is not corporations who should pay taxes, but those who receive the benefits of corporations. Corporations are not people, regardless of what SCOTUS says. Taxes paid by corporations are taxes that should be paid by the people who benefit from them. This would go a long way to address the control oligarchs have over the US government.
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Yep... all the short term and long term gains from buying & selling, dividends, and not even having to "move paper around" like they had to do before computers. Sit and click. And sure do cry when they are asked to pay up more than blue collars. GREED.
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You make a good point. So are you advocating corporations pay 0 tax, and all profits are taxed at the shareholder level?
It would never pass, the optics are too skewed.
As predicted, the very rich just got a very lot richer. Instead of a confiscatory scheme, as Trump promised on the stump, to punish corporations who had abused the American tax system for years, he rewards them with a tax level well below what they would have paid had they not used their schemes and dodges.
As for the “new” investments in America, Apple has not announced a single new project. As the article points out, Apple already had plans in place to spend hundreds of billions over the next several years. And why wouldn’t they? They are a massively successful American company, along with many, many others who built their businesses and employed millions of well educated Americans long before this administration came along. Places in America with well educated and resourceful folk will continue to do well. Where are all the announcements of the new coal, steel, textile, automotive, and other low skill requirement manufacturing jobs?
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And the govt will allocate those funds straight to military spending! Citizens should be able to have greater involvement in the allocation of the repatriated funds.
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Good stuff, if true. Unfortunately history as shown that when this repatriation of offshore tax shelter monies happens, it primarily goes to the shareholders in the form of dividends. It does not translate to new jobs, factories, machines, higher wages, etc.
I am somewhat optimistic as Apple laid-out specifics. Let's see what happens.
18
I wish I could hide my money overseas and wait until the government gives me a massive tax break. Apple pioneered some elaborate tax dodges and now they want to act like good samaritans. Not buying it.
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Craig, off shore money is derived from off shore activities. Such as buying from China and selling to Australia.
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Mark what you say doesn’t disprove what Craig said. Furthermore the comments praising trump and the gop either don’t know or don’t care that the new tax law rewards hiding the money up to now. Yes a carrot brought it out; so would’ve a stick. Given the circumstances I’d have preferred a stick, and so would federal coffers.
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