41–50 of 205 posts
While the root of the problem is not the companies' action (they do what is logical for their own benefits), this is very good to raise public awareness. This could be seen as a negative externality, because it has a very negative impact on the economy of the countries they're operating in. They're basically sucking money out of the country without contributing back what they should
I really respect this kind of activism. Fair taxation certainly isn't the sexiest topic to hold a protest about, but it is actually a huge fundamental issue for us today. Individuals, and Corporations we treat as legal individuals, produce value for our society in several ways, and paying taxes is one of them. When wealthy individuals or large corporations dodge taxes via off-shore firms, etc. they erode the basis of…
Does this sort of activism really help? I mean, this isn't an Apple-only issue and if Apple is obeying tax laws, then are they really going to consider paying more just because a small group of people chanted in one of their stores for a while? Even if Apple is breaking the law, isn't it worth putting up with a handful of activists for a few hours if it saves them millions in taxes and makes their investors happy? I…
Also, I think the chances of Apple deciding to pay its taxes due to this kind of pressure are at least as high as politicians in X country closing loopholes.
https://www.apple.com/environment/
Maybe because today being seen environmentally conscious makes you more money than you lose by paying for greener technologies? If people can make avoiding paying taxes seen in the same light, things will change.
I wait for the day this page exists:
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More would be accomplished by protesting the government that allows certain loopholes. Apple is a public company with an obligation to its shareholders to make money, not pay erroneous taxes.
>More would be accomplished by protesting the government that allows certain loopholes. I'm not so sure about this as I'd question that it's possible for a single government to close loopholes on its own. Arguably yes, governments should be pressured into closing "certain loopholes", but not because this necessarily leads to a better outcome. >Apple is a public company with an obligation to its shareholders to make m…
Pardon my ignorance but I thought Apple largely obeyed the law. Shouldn’t these people be protesting the government that fails to tax Apple justly?
> “Apple must stop denying the tax practices highlighted by the European Commission’s investigation, withdraw its appeal to the European Court of Justice and pay its fine of 13 billion euros as quickly as possible,” said Aurélie Trouvé, spokesman for Attac, according to the release. A blurb from article. It looks like the government already went after Apple.
Yes, this is relevant; Apple is not being punished¹, they're just being told to fulfill their obligations.
¹I'm not saying they should or shouldn't be.
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Can't help notice that three of the four are tiny countries. And the fourth, Ireland, is not that big either. I'm starting to thing that there might also be a geopolitic reason to become a tax heaven, not just an economic one, something along the line "Let's convince Amazon to book profits here, and there let's see who will dare mess with us, given that Amazon will be protected by USA"
For a small nation, it's one of the few outsized competitive advantages they can try to offer (that is, something they can do that can benefit them far beyond the scale of their population). Ireland's corporate tax rate + joining the European single market, resulted in one of the greatest booms in modern economic history. From $40 to $280 billion in GDP in just 17 years. Given the extreme nature of the benefits, a sm…
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Does this sort of activism really help? I mean, this isn't an Apple-only issue and if Apple is obeying tax laws, then are they really going to consider paying more just because a small group of people chanted in one of their stores for a while? Even if Apple is breaking the law, isn't it worth putting up with a handful of activists for a few hours if it saves them millions in taxes and makes their investors happy? I…
>Does this sort of activism really help? Yes. It reduces the company's bottom line until they either inflict bad publicity on themselves, sit and cope with it silently, or submit to the demand to pay their lawful taxes. >I think a more effective form of activism would be to flood representatives' offices with requests to change tax laws and to vote for candidates willing to do so. You're getting downvoted because we'…
To those saying that Apple has a fiduciary obligation to maximize profits, shouldn't by that logic Apple respect the environment at the minimum required level by law? But on the contrary, Apple highlights in a lot of their presentation how green and environmentally conscious they are, going above and beyond what the laws require: https://www.apple.com/environment/ Maybe because today being seen environmentally consci…
> https://www.apple.com/paying_taxes/
Not quite what you mean, but there's this, just posted within the last month:
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/11/the-facts-about-apple...
These people are protesting against the wrong entity. Apple followed the tax laws at the time, so they should protest against their government for creating loopholes that can and always will be exploited by those with the resources to do so. Public companies have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to maximize profits, which includes taking advantage of any and all available strategies to reduce their ta…
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Taking advantage of others (such as lobbying for loopholes) falls under the umbrella. Just because you can dump industrial waste into a river doesn't mean you should. Just because you can steal doesn't mean you should. Just because you can shortchange citizens doesn't mean you should. Yes laws should be passed, I agree, but that doesn't mean we can't also multilaterally a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does this sort of activism really help? I mean, this isn't an Apple-only issue and if Apple is obeying tax laws, then are they really going to consider paying more just because a small group of people chanted in one of their stores for a while? Even if Apple is breaking the law, isn't it worth putting up with a handful of activists for a few hours if it saves them millions in taxes and makes their investors happy? I…
>Does this sort of activism really help? Yes. It reduces the company's bottom line until they either inflict bad publicity on themselves, sit and cope with it silently, or submit to the demand to pay their lawful taxes. >I think a more effective form of activism would be to flood representatives' offices with requests to change tax laws and to vote for candidates willing to do so. You're getting downvoted because we'…
They pay their lawful taxes. They engage in tax avoidance, not tax evasion.