• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less

1

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
CommentaryApple

Commentary: Apple Avoided $40 Billion in Taxes. Now It Wants a Gold Star?

By
Josh Hoxie
Josh Hoxie
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Josh Hoxie
Josh Hoxie
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 18, 2018, 5:04 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The public relations spin doctors are working overtime at Apple this week.

The tech giant just announced that it will pay $38 billion to the U.S. Treasury in taxes brought home from overseas—and “create” some 20,000 new jobs. It pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S. over the next five years and give employees $2,500 in restricted stock units.

That’s all spin.

What Apple really unveiled were plans to collect a massive windfall from the GOP’s corporate tax handout. This was a pay-to-play political scam at its ugliest—and the rest of us are the chumps.

Let’s start with the dollars. Apple currently holds about $252 billion in profits offshore, where it can avoid paying U.S. taxes. That’s over 90% of the company’s total cash on hand. This profit is subject to the corporate income tax as soon as it’s “repatriated” back to the U.S.

Before the recent tax code overhaul, the company would’ve paid $78.6 billion in taxes if it brought the money home, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Apple didn’t want to pay this tax, so it let the cash sit offshore for years.

In the meantime, Apple and its peers have been working furiously to tilt the tax code in their favor. Apple spent $2.3 million in the third quarter of 2017 alone lobbying. The other four big tech companies—Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet (which owns Google), and Amazon—chipped in another $14 million.

For their efforts, these titans of Silicon Valley are being rewarded handsomely. Now their offshore profits will be taxed at a one-time, 15.5% repatriation rate, also called a tax holiday. And all other corporate profits will be taxed at 21%, down from a previous nominal rate of 35%.

So that $38 billion Apple’s going to pay in taxes now? It means the company effectively dodged more than $40 billion it would’ve otherwise paid.

For context, this difference is more than double the annual cost of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which covers the health care costs of nine million children from low-income families. CHIP is currently in crisis, with Congress debating whether it will be included in a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Maybe if we spent less on massive handouts to the wealthiest companies in the world, we’d have more to spend on sick children.

Yet not content to simply gloat, Apple wants to be celebrated for its heist. The company announced it would be “creating” 20,000 new jobs as a result of the tax changes. But that runs directly counter to how tax holidays actually work. A comprehensive study by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee reviewed the last time the U.S. allowed firms to bring back overseas cash at a discounted rate—in 2004. It found that the top 15 repatriating corporations actually reduced their overall U.S. workforce by 21,000 jobs.

Indeed, major corporations said over and over throughout the latest tax debate that if given a big tax cut, they would reward shareholders, not workers. True to form, they did just that—with major layoffs recently announced at Walmart, Comcast, and AT&T.

Even in Apple’s case, the job benefits aren’t so clear. As many have pointed out, the company routinely claims credit for “creating” jobs for people they don’t even employ. And as MarketWatch reports, there’s no evidence to show any of the new jobs they’re proposing now actually result from their tax windfall.

“We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release, “and the people who help make our success possible.”

With respect, Tim, no you don’t.

Spending millions in lobbying dollars to save tens of billions of dollars in taxes isn’t really a display of “responsibility” to a country or its people. It’s a greedy act done for shareholders, who have been rewarded handsomely.

The rest of us have been had.

Josh Hoxie is director of the Project on Opportunity and Taxation at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of Inequality.org.

About the Author
By Josh Hoxie
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Commentary

nido
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
As an immigrant turned entrepreneur and college president, here is why I celebrate our nation as it turns 250
By Nido R. QubeinJune 25, 2026
1 hour ago
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
Commentaryarms, weapons, and defense
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
By Chris OberoiJune 24, 2026
16 hours ago
steve
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
Steve Case: America was built by entrepreneurs. Here’s how we keep that edge for the next 250 years
By Steve CaseJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
t
CommentaryWhite House
Trump mistakes the bully pulpit for bullying leadership — history’s villains were never heroes
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven TianJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
mg
CommentaryHealth
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
By Michael GerlingJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
sb
Commentaryclimate change
The climate policy triangle: why leaders can no longer choose between growth, security and sustainability
By Sebastian BuckupJune 23, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Retail
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
22 hours ago
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
Asia
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
23 hours ago
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
2 days ago
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
Economy
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
By Tristan BoveJune 24, 2026
18 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.