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According to an international financial statement filed by Apple, the company manages to pay just 1.9 per cent income tax on its earnings outside the US, meaning it pays a mere £446-odd million in tax on earnings of about £23 billion.
Despite making less the year previous, earning just £15 billion outside the US in the fiscal year ending in 2011, Apple’s accountants have managed to keep its tax bill low reports Associated Press. It now pays just 1.9 per cent tax on all that income, compared to 2.5 per cent last year.
By way of comparison, the general corporate tax rate in the US is 35 per cent and around 30 per cent in the UK.
Like any other big corporation, Apple probably pushes its cash through circuitous tax-dodging routes in order to keep the total rate low, and leaves its earnings overseas. How moral such tricks are is, of course, a matter of personal philosophy — though I’m sure plenty of us wish we had the wherewithal to account like Apple. [Associated Press]
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And this is a large part of why the world’s financial situation is what it is. What’s worse is that the dystopian futures you read about in sci-fi are actually unfolding in front of us, in our lifetimes, as a result.
Yep. All those stories about the Zaibatsus running the world are not entirely fictional any more, except with the way that the Japanese giants of tech are falling (Sharp announced this morning that they were shaky, for example) I expect that the Americorps are going to be those ruling the world.
I agree and it’s not just Apple, it’s everyone. It’s about time that everyone paid there fair share of Tax.
And yet they still feel the need to sting us with the typical dollar to pound straight price conversion we all know and loathe.
If they can get away with it, of course they will do it. The whole reason why Apple are where they are is down to one man’s scruples or lack thereof.
You mean Apple is not honest? Only in it for the money? They don’t want to improve our lives? Corporate BAS###DS!
When is iPhone 6 out again?
I must admit this really didn’t surprise me. But they must raise a lot of VAT for our country at least.
Nor me, as it was already revealed on The Revolution Will Be Televised, if I’m right in saying. And you were missing out if you didn’t watch that series, it was hilarious, and arguably the best thing BBC Three had ever made.