This one’s for Apple fanboys. Your favorite company you can’t live without is about to avoid paying $9.2 billion in taxes, the money that could’ve been spent on various social programs, like improving public schools and hospitals across the U.S. Sure, you can say “everyone’s doing it” (and by “everyone” I mean global corporations), but I can’t recall any other company doing it at such scale.
Thanks to the “innovative” $17 billion bond deal, Apple won’t pay $9.2 billion in taxes, but just $308 million. Now we get the real idea how “green” they really are.
This financial mumbo-jumbo is achieved by exchanging non-deductible and more expensive dividend payments for tax deductible interest payments while purchasing back shares at relatively low price-points. I’m not sure I understand the mechanics behind this highly complex deal but if you want to know more, make sure to check out this article at BusinessWeek.
No doubts that Apple shareholders will love the deal. Apple fanboys will once again find an excuse for their favorite company, while the rest of us can’t believe this is happening. Paying taxes seems optional for some companies… (Apple is not alone in this by any means)…