On Tuesday Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook will appear in front of Congress to answer questions about where and how the company pays its corporate taxes around the world. Apple has published a document complete with the information it intends to deliver to Congress tomorrow. A full copy of the company’s tax policy can be found on the company’s website.
The document not only includes details on how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently handles taxes, it also contains a list of reforms Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wants to make to the tax system in the United States. According to the document published today, “Apple supports Comprehensive Corporate Tax Reform.”
For Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reform means several things, the heart of the matter is simplicity, however. Apple, like many Americans, wants the tax system to be simpler. The three characteristics of good reform according to the company are that it should be revenue neutral, it should eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates, and “implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US.”
The last of these is the one that most concerns Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company has a massive cash hoard offshore that it refuses to repatriate to the United States because of the tax the government would charge on such a movement. Apple says that it is not opposed to an overall increase in its tax rate if it leads to a more competitive, flexible and efficient tax system.
Congress is looking to meet with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in order to find out if the company is paying its fair share and if any of the loopholes the company is taking advantage of should be closed in order to collect more taxes from multinationals. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) seems more interested in schooling Congress in tax policy, and asking for concessions that would help it, and few others.
Americans are frustrated with the tax system, and American corporations are certainly frustrated with the country’s corporate tax regime. That doesn’t mean that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should be allowed to write the tax laws, however. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has one goal, to make money, and it’s not going to coincide with the goals of the American people at large.
