In article , RJH wrote:

no they don't. apple does *not* evade or avoid paying taxes. period.

They avoid paying tax. Period.

nope.

apple follows the tax code to reduce their tax liability, just like
other businesses and individuals do, which is not only legal, but smart
business.


There is no such thing as a 'tax code' in the sense you are using it.

yes there is, and it was just changed.

There's more than one way of paying, avoiding or evading tax.

those are three very different things, but so what?

apple pays their fair share, as does any well run business.
apple does not evade paying taxes, nor does any well run business.

a company or individual who evades paying taxes eventually gets caught.

apple does *not* fudge the numbers to avoid paying taxes. that's
illegal and stupid.


It obfuscates.

no.




apple, like other companies as well as individuals, pay the taxes they
owe, however, they *minimize* it to the extent that the tax code
allows. in fact, as a public company, they're legally *obligated* to do
so.

What is this 'tax code'?

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax-code.asp
A tax code is a federal government document, numbering tens of
thousands of pages that details the rules individuals and businesses
must follow, in remitting a percentage of their incomes to the
federal government. The tax code is used as a source by tax lawyers
whom bear the responsibility of interpreting it for the public.

start he
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26

Nonsense. There is no law that says a company cannot pay tax at a full
and fair local rate.

public companies have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders.

Ah, so it's not a 'law'. And it's not an obligation. Plenty, albeit a
minority, of companies do not act as Apple acts.

any business that pays more taxes than it legally owes is very poorly
run.


judge learned hand,
http://intltax.typepad.com/intltax_b...x-quotes-4-5.h
tml
Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low
as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best
pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase
one's taxes.
Gregory v. Helvering, 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934)

May? Why not must, if it's 'the law'?

read it again.

My point remains - there's no legal obligation to avoid paying tax.

read it one more time.

here's a clue: there is no legal obligation to pay *more* tax than is
owed.

someone certainly can pay more if they really want, but that would be
incredibly stupid.

put your money where you mouth is.

call the irs and tell them you will be paying more tax than required
and *not* to process the extra as a refund (which is what normally
happens with any excess).

also, every time you see a discounted price in a store or online
vendor, tell them you want to pay the full price and to *remove* any
discounts. be sure to sort prices high to low, not the other way
around.



apple is paying their *legal* tax obligation. period.

Insofar as I understand it, agreed.

then there's absolutely no issue, is there?

paying *more* than what they legally owe is stupid.

do you pay more than what you owe?? do you take deductions?

No and yes.

then you're avoiding paying taxes.

you're a hypocrite.



I really do have a problem with Cook on this, and it's one of the few
occasions where he gets aggressive because he knows he's wrong.

he's not wrong. he's just a whole lot smarter than you are about how to
run a business.

he's wrong in the sense that he's arguing that what he's doing is
morally inconsistent. It isn't, and he knows it.

bull****.