Labor Union to Cash-Rich Apple: “It’s Tax Time”
Source: Mission Local
As Tax Day looms, representatives of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been quietly, but persistently, nudging Apple, a company infamous for tax avoidance, to pay up and on Thursday morning, five representatives showed up at the corner of 15th and Mission streets (in San Francisco) to make their demands.
“They have a staggering amount of cash in off-shore and out-of-state accounts, more than Google or other companies, and public resources that our members rely on — transit, public schools — are struggling,” said SEIU representative Alfredo Fletes. “We need to remind Apple that they impact these things too.”
For an hour this morning, Fletes and his colleagues politely handed out fliers and held signs detailing the scope in which they believe the tech company is avoiding its duties to California. According to SEIU, California loses $221 million in corporate tax because of Apple profits held in Nevada subsidies.
Recent years have seen increased international scrutiny for the Cupertino-based company with subsidies around the world. A Congressional inquiry last May found that Apple consistently avoids paying tens of billions of dollars in taxes by channeling money into off-shore subsidies. Recently, others have been writing about the cash that Apple and other tech companies are sitting on. A Moody’s report showed Apple with $158.8 billion in cash reserves.
Read more: http://missionlocal.org/2014/04/labor-union-to-cash-rich-apple-its-tax-time/