You can always count on an Ars Technicareview being thorough. So if a company is foolish enough to pitch an iPhone and iPad screen protector as being made from bulletproof glass, well …
I couldn’t let a “bulletproof” claim stand without challenge. Al Trug and the Clear Creek Gun Range graciously agreed to let me come in before regular hours on a weekday morning and mount the second Holy Grail review sample up on one of their targets, this time affixed to my friend Matt’s old iPhone 4.
‘Second’ sample because the company sent two, and reviewer Lee Hutchison had already attacked the first one with a screwdriver and ran it over with his car. As you do. You can see the second video on the Ars Technicasite.
A four-month long investigation into Apple’s tax affairs by the Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the company of any wrong-doing in regard to the way the company accounted for taxes in respect of its overseas operations.
A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing into Apple’s tax affairs had previously accused the company of seeking “the Holy Grail of tax avoidance” over cash held overseas. The hearing proved anti-climatic, with no wrong-doing established, and the investigation handed off to the SEC. The SEC has now closed the case.
Tim Cook made an unequivocal statement during the Senate hearing that Apple used no tax gimmicks … Expand Expanding Close
Here’s what the other side has to say via Michigan’s Carl Levin (Democrat) on the senator’s view of Apple’s tax avoidance strategy:
“Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven. Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed.”
Republican Senator John McCain adds:
“Apple claims to be the largest U.S. corporate taxpayer, but by sheer size and scale, it is also among America’s largest tax avoiders. A company that found remarkable success by harnessing American ingenuity and the opportunities afforded by the U.S. economy should not be shifting its profits overseas to avoid the payment of U.S. tax, purposefully depriving the American people of revenue. It is important to understand Apple’s byzantine tax structure so that we can effectively close the loopholes utilized by many U.S. multinational companies, particularly in this era of sequestration.I have long advocated for modernizing our broken and uncompetitive tax code, but that cannot and must not be an excuse for turning a blind eye to the highly questionable tax strategies that corporations like Apple use to avoid paying taxes in America. The proper place for the bulk of Apple’s creative energy ought to go into its innovative products and services, not in its tax department.”
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, and Tax Operations Head Phillip Bullock will be on hand giving testimony. Check back tomorrow for the blow by blow. Expand Expanding Close
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