Thread: Rand Paul: "Congress should be on trial" - not Apple

Rand Paul: "Congress should be on trial" - not Apple

Bob Beauprez | May 24, 2013




Apple employs 600,000 people in the U.S. and is the largest corporate taxpayer in the country. Last year alone, the company paid $6 billion in taxes. This year they expect to pay $7 billion.
But, that's not enough for some members of Congress. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) hauled the Apple CEO Tim Cook in front of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee which he chairs and berated him as a "tax dodger." Levin and others in Congress are offended that Apple makes profit in other countries and doesn't bring all that money back to the U.S. - where they would be taxed 35 percent as soon as it crosses the border.
Sen. Rand Paul saw it differently. Paul was "offended by a government that convenes a hearing to bully one of America's greatest success stories." Apple was simply doing what every Member of Congress, private citizen, or businessman does - managing their financial affairs to "minimize their taxes."
Paul says if anybody should be investigated, it should be Congress for creating a "byzantine tax code...that simply doesn't compete with the rest of the world." The tax code chases "the profits of great American companies overseas," Sen. Paul said.
He's right! See his four minute indictment of Congress and clear representation of free-market principles below:




http://finance.townhall.com/columnis...tm_campaign=nl



John McCain’s big question as he grilled Apple CEO Tim Cook over tax strategy: Why the hell do I have to keep updating apps on my iPhone all the time?

The Arizona Republican’s tongue-in-cheek remark injected some levity into a Senate subcommittee’s look at the tech giant’s alleged tax dodging.

By Carol Kuruvilla / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 9:12 PM

Kaster/AP

Sen. John McCain (r.) (R-Ariz.) wanted to know why he has to update his iPhone apps so much.

Grandpa McCain’s having trouble with his gosh darn iPhone.

After grilling Apple CEO Tim Cook about his company’s tax strategy, the senator skipped a trip to the Apple store and went straight to the big boss for customer service.
"I'm out of time, but what I really wanted to ask was why the hell I have to keep updating apps on my iPhone all the time and why you don’t fix that," the Arizona Republican grumbled as laughter broke out during the panel session.
RELATED: APPLE IS A TAX DODGER: PROBE
"Sir, we’re trying to make them better all the time," Cook replied, flashing a broad smile.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...#ixzz2UDV7SXCg

Taking a Bite out of Apple

A Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator Carl Levin heard from three panels of witnesses Tuesday on Apple Inc.’s corporate tax payments. Democratic senators and some news stories are making it sound like some vast tax cheating has been going on, but that’s not what the hearing actually revealed. Cato scholar Chris Edwards reveals the true problem: “The U.S. rate is the highest general corporate tax rate in the world. Given the U.S. tax disadvantage, it’s not surprising that Apple and every other U.S. multinational have strong incentives to move their real investments and paper profits abroad.”

• “Apple Defends Itself against Tax-Hungry Senators,” by Chris Edwards
• “Four Reasons to Applaud Apple’s Tax Planning,” by Daniel J. Mitchell
• “Senators Levin and McCain: Two Peas All Up in our iPods,” by Daniel J. Ikenson
• “Corporate Tax Competitiveness Rankings for 2012,” by Duanjie Chen and Jack M. Mintz