Apple boss Tim Cook calls for overhaul of corporate tax system
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has acknowledged that the global corporate tax system needs to be overhauled, adding he was optimistic that upcoming reform would be fair.
Tech giants such as Apple have come under increased scrutiny over their tax practices amid concerns they are dodging their liabilities by booking profit in low-tax countries.
This has prompted the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to push for reform to ensure such companies paid tax in regions where they serve customers.
“I think logically everybody knows it needs to be rehauled, I would certainly be the last person to say that the current system or the past system was the perfect system. I’m hopeful and optimistic that they [the OECD] will find something,” Cook said today.
“It’s very complex to know how to tax a multinational… We desperately want it to be fair.”
The comments came as Cook was presented with an award at a ceremony in Dublin to mark Apple’s 40 years of investment in Ireland.
Apple, which employs roughly 6,000 people in the country, is currently challenging a 2016 European Commission ruling forcing it to pay €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to the Irish government.
Cook said Apple did not believe that the law should be “retrofitted”. However, he insisted his company’s commitment to the country was “unshakeable”.
The Silicon Valley chief also said that more regulation was needed in privacy, adding that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws rolled out in 2018 did not go far enough.
“I think more regulation is needed in this area, it is probably strange for a business person to be talking about regulation but it has become apparent that companies will not self-police in this area,” he said.
“We were one of the first to endorse GDPR, we think it is overall extremely good, not only for Europe. We think it’s necessary but not sufficient. You have to go further and that further is required to get privacy back to where it should be.”
It came as EU industry chief Thierry Breton said the bloc was prepared to take action against tech firms if discussions over the OECD’s proposed reforms did not bear fruit.
“I do not know any optional voluntary tax… On the big digital players, this is obviously not an option,” he told reporters. “If it cannot be reached, we would take up the issue at the level of the Commission,” he added.
Last week Amazon’s UK boss warned plans for a new two per cent digital services tax in Boris Johnson’s March Budget would increase costs for small businesses.
Douglas Gurr said that while the mooted tech tax will not affect Amazon’s investment in the UK, the extra costs would likely be passed on to sellers using its platform.