Another NYT Slam Job: Apple and Taxes
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?_r=1&hp#postcomment A totally ridiculous article, IMHO.
I wrote the following comment, in response. Not sure if it will show up (I hope my numbers are right; I would love for someone to correct them if they're wrong):
"This article lies through its teeth.
It says: "...the company paid cash taxes of $3.3 billion around the world on its reported profits of $34.2 billion last year, a tax rate of 9.8 percent. (Apple does not disclose what portion of those payments was in the United States....)"
1) According to Table 22 in its latest 10K filing, "Provision for Income Taxes" was $8.28B in 2011, on **worldwide** pretax profits of $34.2B, i.e., ~24% (not 9.8%).
2) Total deferred taxes for Federal, State, Foreign was $2.87B, for **cash taxes** paid of $5.42B, i.e., 15.8% of pretax income (not 9.8%).
3) Table 22 also tells us that Apple paid **US Federal & State** cash taxes of $1.6B. So, the statement that Apple does not disclose what portion of those payments was in the United States...." is untrue, or the expert quoted in the article is clueless.
4) If 30% of pretax profit is from the US -- as Apple asserts it was -- then Apple's cash tax rate in the US was 15.6%.
5) The expert's claim that Apple should have "50%" of its profit coming from the US is speculation. No analysis or assumptions are provided. If this were true, Apple's auditors would be complicit in serious tax fraud. Is NYT alleging that the firm that audits the largest company in the world is abetting tax fraud!?
6) The article makes a claim that taxes can be deferred indefinitely -- despite the fact that only a fool would think so -- and provides no logic or argument for how this can happen.
What a third-rate slam job."