Paradise Papers and Apple by Julia Maria Blesdoe

In May 2013, the chief executive of Apple Tim Cook came before a, “United States Senate investigative subcommittee,” over evidence found that Apple avoided paying huge sums of money to the government, billions actually. But when Tim Cook walked back out from the supposingly grueling and embarrassing subcommittee, he was better than when he went in. In fact, some chairman was actually encouraging Apple and their products; “We love the iphone and the ipad,” (Senator Carl Levin of Michigan), and he wasn’t the only one, but this isn’t the full picture. Apple is actually subject to a tax system that is making it impossible for our American companies to compete with foreign ones. Apple did legally hide billions of dollars overseas from the Government, but none of the top 30 companies pay federal income taxes. Apple’s compelling argument was that Congress created this mess, they are the ones forcing American companies to bring their money in from Canada, Mexico, or South America. Therefore, congress is inadvertently forcing Apple to loophole their way through avoiding those taxes in order to survive across seas.

Fast forward to now, Apple is involved in yet another tax scandal. There are a collection of documents called the Paradise Papers providing an in depth detail as to how these billionaires and huge companies escape the IRS; Internal Revenue Service. After Apple’s last tax escape crackdown they needed a new plan. Law firms stepped in to help Apple situate their hundreds of billions of dollars stash into an offshore tax shelter on the English Channel in Jersey. Many of those loopholes companies are making are completely legal, but this money is still important to running our government, especially when it isn’t just Apple, but 31,000 top notch, “ultra-high-net worth individuals,” worldwide, including Justin Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth. Think about what the $70 billion dollars that the government loses annually could do. That money divided among the parents of this country would be massive step to stopping childhood poverty. You can do a lot with 70 billion dollars and a growing nation.