[seanmcdirmid]

Why? If Apple did this strictly, there would be a shareholder lawsuit definitely, but also Apple's non-US competitors would have a HUGE advantage since they aren't burdened by US-centric US tax laws...to the point that Apple couldn't really compete.

If everyone plays by the same rules, great! But that isn't the case, because not every company is American.

[pbreit]

> Apple couldn't really compete

That's a laugher. All of this financial chicanery neither impacts Apple's ability to compete nor drives its share price.

[seanmcdirmid]

Do you really believe that?

If Samsung (a Korean company) can sell devices in other countries while shifting profits (already taxed in those countries, BTW) between them freely, not having to pay additional tax to take the money back to Korea first (which they wouldn't, but that is another story), isn't that a huge advantage for them?

Why do you want Apple to play by rules that are different from Samsung? Why should Apple pay more tax than Samsung on profits for a phone sold in...China (barring reasonable taxes on value added by R&D where the R&D was done, which almost every country has).

[pbreit]

Yes. Apple rarely plays anyone else's game. Bowing to Icahn was a mis-step, IMO.

[pervycreeper]

What relevance does Samsung have to this topic?

[brisance]

Samsung is a direct competitor and its headquarters is in South Korea, which does not have a similar tax regime (handicap?) compared to Apple which is based in the US. So it is relevant.