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A new report shows that Apple hasn’t paid taxes in New Zealand for a decade.
A new report from the New Zealand herald shows that over the past ten years, Apple has not paid a single dollar in tax to the New Zealand government, despite profits in the country of over SGD 5.9 billion (USD 4.2 billion). The company’s accounts do show that some SGD 51 million (USD 37 million) was paid in tax during this period, but the entirety of this sum was passed on to the Australian government because the NZ branch of the company is run from an Australian office. Despite this, the sum is still also only about a tenth of what the company actually would owe the New Zealand government if it were paying its fair share.
Apple is the largest tax paying entity in the US, but as is so often the case with large companies, the same is not true abroad. Now, some American Apple users are rallying behind the New Zealand government and urging Apple to pay up. Bryan Chaffin, founder of Apple community blog The Mac Observer urged Tim Cook to do ‘the right thing’, even if it means slightly lower profits.
“Local taxes matter. Roads matter. Schools matter. Housing authorities matter. Health care matters. Regulation enforcement matters. All of the things that support civil society matter,” said Chaffin. “Apple’s profits are made possible by that civil society, and the company should contribute its fair share.”
An Apple spokesperson in Australia told the Weekend Herald yesterday: “Apple aims to be a force for good and we’re proud of the contributions we’ve made in New Zealand over the past decade. Because our products and services are created, designed and engineered in the US, that’s where the vast majority of our tax is paid.”
source: New Zealand Herald
