Apple has denied allegations of tax evasion after a US Senate investigation found accused it of using offshore loopholes to save billions in taxes.
The investigation said tech giant avoided paying taxes on tens of billions of dollars in profits through a complex network of subsidiaries, many with “no declared tax jurisdiction”.
In a statement, Apple denied the accusations and said it “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.”
The statement further said: “Apple does not use tax gimmicks. Apple does not move its intellectual property into offshore tax havens and use it to sell products back into the US in order to avoid US tax; it does not use revolving loans from foreign subsidiaries to fund its domestic operations; it does not hold money on a Caribbean island; and it does not have a bank account in the Cayman Islands.”
The Senate committee insisted that although Apple has not acted illegally it using an unusual tax structure has managed to keep billions of dollars of profits tax-free in Irish subsidiaries.
Testifying before Congress on the matter, Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook said: “We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar.”
Cook proposed a revenue-neutral simplification of federal tax laws, lowering corporate tax rates, saying such a change “would likely result in an increase in Apple’s US taxes”.
