Apple's accused of dodging tax with a “Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich” strategy

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A story in Sunday's New York Times examined the loopholes Apple use to avoid paying more than it has to in corporate taxes, CNN Money reports.

The loopholes, which allowed Apple to pay taxes of $3.3 billion on profits of $34.2 billion in the fiscal year 2011, at the very low tax rate of 9.8%, include:
   
-- Managing investments through an office in Reno, Nevada, to get around California's 8.84% corporate tax rate.
   
-- Funneling iTunes sales in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East through an office in Luxembourg to take advantage of the lower tax rates.
   
-- Routing profits through Irish subsidiaries and the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean, an accounting technique known as the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich" that, according to the article, Apple invented and has since been adopted by hundreds of other corporations.

Apple responded to the New York Times article by issuing a statement.

“Over the past several years, we have created an incredible number of jobs in the United States.

"The vast majority of our global work force remains in the U.S., with more than 47,000 full-time employees in all 50 states. By focusing on innovation, we’ve created entirely new products and industries, and more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. workers — from the people who create components for our products to the people who deliver them to our customers.

"Apple’s international growth is creating jobs domestically since we oversee most of our operations from California. We manufacture parts in the U.S. and export them around the world, and U.S. developers create apps that we sell in over 100 countries. As a result, Apple has been among the top creators of American jobs in the past few years.

"Apple also pays an enormous amount of taxes which help our local, state and federal governments. In the first half of fiscal year 2012 our U.S. operations have generated almost $5 billion in federal and state income taxes, including income taxes withheld on employee stock gains, making us among the top payers of U.S. income tax.

"We have contributed to many charitable causes but have never sought publicity for doing so. Our focus has been on doing the right thing, not getting credit for it. In 2011, we dramatically expanded the number of deserving organizations we support by initiating a matching gift program for our employees.

“Apple has conducted all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules. We are incredibly proud of all of Apple’s contributions.”
 

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