Forty-seven years after Nowhere Man by the Beatles, a U.S. Senate panel discovers several nowhere men.
A Wall Street Journal Technology Alert:
Apple has set up corporate structures that have allowed it to pay little or no corporate tax–in any country–on much of its overseas income, according to the findings of a U.S. Senate examination.
The unusual result is possible because the iPhone maker’s key foreign subsidiaries argue they are residents of nowhere, according to the investigators’ report, which will be discussed at a hearing Tuesday where Apple CEO Tim Cook will testify. The finding comes from a lengthy investigation into the technology giant’s tax practices by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sens. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.).
In additional coverage, Apple says:
Apple’s testimony also includes a call to overhaul: “Apple welcomes an objective examination of the US corporate tax system, which has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy.”
Tax reform will be useful only if “transparent” tax reform.
Transparent tax reform mean every provision with more than a $100,000 impact on any taxpayer, names all the taxpayers impacted. Whether more or less taxes.
We have the data, we need the will to apply the analysis.
A tax-impact topic map anyone?