To put the whole issue of tax evasion that Apple is carrying out in Europe (and for which it is being widely criticized) a bit in context, and with the aggravation that the name of the Cupertino-based company has caused in the «Paradise Papers», en Soy de Mac We bring you the extract of an interesting column written this week by Wolfgang Krach, editor-in-chief of Süddeutsche Zeitung, the newspaper with the greatest popularity in the main country of the European Union, Germany.
With this open letter, titled "Dear Tim Cook", It is intended to show the image that a large part of the European population has in the case of Apple's tax evasion in the old continent. A really interesting point of view. The letter reads as follows:
Dear Tim Cook,
You don't know me, but I know you. Not personally, but from TV, live streams of his appearances in Cupertino as he performs Keynotes, and of course, from my organization's newspaper and website. I am the editor-in-chief of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's leading daily newspaper and the one that obtained the Panama Papers and later the Paradise Papers, documents that we continue to analyze and report with colleagues from the New York Times, The Guardian, and nearly 100 other media organizations.
Yours is one of the most famous and prestigious companies on the planet. Your products are exceptional. The iPhone not only changed the world, it did so faster than virtually any other technological innovation in history. Apple is adored by millions of people and has achieved cult status. Personally, I have owned an iPhone for the last 10 years. My fingers brush my iPad every day. At home, a MacBook awaits. If everyone in our newsroom had to choose between a work computer and a smartphone, I'm sure most people would go for an Apple device.
My colleagues and I have long followed the debates in the United States and Europe about Apple taxes. You, yourself, have often taken a position on the issue, as you did before the US Senate in 2013. At the time, you said that Apple did not "rely on tax tricks." However, in the "Paradise Papers" we discover information that tarnishes the image of Apple that you are trying to convey. Questions posed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and our aforementioned colleagues have either been left unanswered or have been met with, at best, tight-lipped clichés. Why?
Apple employs thousands of highly qualified, excellent engineers, technicians, attorneys, managers, and public relations specialists who have attended colleges and universities around the world. Many of these higher education institutions are fully or partially financed with taxpayer money. Apple benefits directly from the infrastructureeducational or not, that countries maintain. Mr. Cook, you recently told the New York Times that Apple had a "moral responsibility" not only to help the US economy grow, but also to "contribute to the other countries in which we do business."
Of course, we are aware that Apple is one of the largest contributors in the United States. But what about the outside?
Public presentations reveal that between 2010 and 2017, on average, Apple generated two-thirds of its profits outside the US. Evidently, he made $ 41.1 billion in 2016 and $ 44.7 billion in 2017. What these filings also show is that Since 2010, overseas earned income has been taxed at a rate of between 1 and 7 percent for Apple. Mr. Cook, do you think this is consistent with the "moral responsibility" you have advocated? Such a "tax optimization" - albeit legal - it is only possible because specialized law firms like Appleby design complex company structures inaccessible to most other firms. Skilled workers, small business owners, and employees in most countries outside the US, many of whom surely use Apple products, do not have the means to evade ordinary taxes.
In Germany, Apple (which does not publish exact figures) is estimated to have generated revenue in billions last year, of which it paid 25 million euros in taxes. In other words, only 0.2% of the taxes Apple paid worldwide ended up here. This is not even remotely related to the percentage of global sales and profits that Apple recorded in Germany. I'm sure you can appreciate the difficulty we have in explaining this to our readers.
But what worries me most is the way Apple instructed a law firm to obtain an "official tax exemption guarantee" from a nation's government. Because you want that? Why do you feel authorized not to pay taxes in a country? Did you want zero tax status to be a precondition for establishing tax residence there? What gives you the right to do it?
And what understanding of democracy are we supposed to discern from the question this law firm asked you? On whether the country had a "credible opposition party" or a "movement that could replace the current government"? Was he trying to ensure that you could retain tax-free status even after elections or a change of government?
This is why Mr. Cook, the Süddeutsche Zeitung and our readers are still waiting for answers to a litany of questions. Apple advertises itself as a transparent company. If this is true, then there really is no reason to remain silent, is there?
