Apple CEO Tim Cook was hauled before a Senate subcommittee targeting "tax avoidance," of which Apple was accused by Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D), the subcommittee chair.
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook strongly defended the company's tax practices Tuesday at a Senate hearing highlighting the technology giant's use of Irish subsidiaries to shelter billions of dollars in income from U.S. taxes. "We pay all the taxes we owe — every single dollar," Cook told the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We not only comply with the laws but we comply with the spirit of the laws," he said. "We don't depend on tax gimmicks." Cook said the tax code "has not kept up with the digital age" and restricts the free movement of capital in comparison to the codes of other countries. He called for a "dramatic simplification of the corporate tax code," including lower tax rates and a "reasonable tax on foreign earnings."
Cook says Apple's proud to be an American company. Levin was also among the Senate Democrats who pressed the IRS to investigative conservative tax-exempt group, for which it is now under scrutiny.
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