pbs高端访谈:国会调查苹果税务实践 焦点集中于法律漏洞

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:And next: tech giant Apple on the hot seat on Capitol Hill for tax practices that saved the company billions.

　　Margaret Warner has that story.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Chairman Carl Levin laid out the findings of his Senate panel's investigative report today, that giant Apple, maker¹ of the iPhone, iPad and other popular devices, has for years used a complex web of Irish subsidiaries to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes to the U.S. or any other country.

　　That strategy meant Apple paid little or no corporate² taxes on at least $74 billion dollars in the past four years, according to the report.

　　Ranking member John McCain showed the outrage³ was bipartisan.

　　SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-Ariz.: Today, Apple has over $100 billion dollars, more than two-thirds of its total profits, stashed⁴ away in an offshore⁵ account. That's over $100 billion dollars that are not currently subject to U.S. corporate income taxes and therefore cannot be used to ease the deficit⁶ or help invigorate the same American economy that fostered the creation of this large corporation in the first place.

　　MARGARET WARNER:After being sworn in, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company is America's largest corporate taxpayer⁷, and he offered a vigorous defense⁸ of the company's practices.

　　TIM COOK, Apple: We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws. We don't depend on tax gimmicks⁹.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Nobody was alleging¹⁰ that Apple has done anything illegal, and Apple's overseas sales now outstrip¹¹ its revenues from sales at home. Rather, today's hearing was meant to spotlight¹² how Apple and other multinational¹³ corporations exploit loopholes in U.S. tax laws, loopholes Cook said he believes need to be fixed¹⁴.

　　TIM COOK:Apple has always believed in the simple, not the complex. It is in this spirit that we recommend a dramatic simplification of the corporate tax code.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Levin closed the hearing, the second to examine this issue, by saying one way or another the current loopholes cannot remain in place.

　　And more now on the Apple tax story and the wider report.

　　Charles Duhigg has been covering all this for The New York Times and joins me now.

　　And, Charles, welcome back.

　　First, explain to us, how did Apple structure itself so that it could avoid paying taxes on its overseas income to any government? I mean, Sen. Levin accused Apple of using ghost companies.

　　CHARLES DUHIGG, The New York Times: Apple took advantage of loopholes that exist in our tax system and every tax system.

　　For instance, the United States says that a company should be taxed where it's based. For instance, if you have a subsidiary in Ireland, then Ireland should collect taxes on your revenue. Ireland, on the other hand, says that a company should be taxed based on where it's controlled out of. So, even it's a company in Ireland, incorporated in Ireland, if it's run by people in California, then the United States should tax you.

　　Apple was able to take advantage of these conflicting philosophies and say, we have got a company that's technically¹⁵ incorporated in Ireland, it's run by people out of California, and so there's no taxing authority. And, as a result, many of its -- many of its subsidiaries don't pay any taxes on tens of billions of dollars of revenue, and, in fact, don't even file tax returns to anyone on Earth, because they slip through these cracks.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Now, the atmosphere at that hearing with a couple of -- I think one exception was pretty much very critical of Apple. What was Apple's defense, Tim Cook's defense, other than, we do everything -- we pay what we legally owe?

　　CHARLES DUHIGG:Well, that's exactly Tim Cook's defense and Apple's defense is to say, listen, we follow the law. We pay what we're supposed to in every country. It's not our fault if you don't like how the law is written.

　　Secondarily, what Mr. Cook and others say is, listen, when companies make money, when they get these revenues, they use them to create jobs and to create new products and to make the world a better place. And so we deserve to have that money so we can use it.

　　And finally what Mr. Cook says is that, at this point, a majority of Apple's sales occur outside of the United States. And so as a result, it shouldn't be subject to U.S. taxation¹⁶. Now, that's significantly different from what, for instance, the congressional panel, as well as the law of the United States says, which is that we -- the U.S. believes that we should tax where economic value is created.

　　So if you buy an iTunes song in Portugal and it's downloaded from a server that is in Greece and it's created by a recording¹⁷ artist that lives in New York, and the program that made it work is by someone in California, the U.S. says, well, wherever that value was created -- in this case, the United States -- that's where taxation should occur.

　　And there's a fundamental difference of opinion on how that law should be interpreted.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Is it clear that all the money in, like, these three big Irish subsidiaries was, in fact, all at least earned overseas in terms of the sales occurred overseas?

　　CHARLES DUHIGG:I think it's pretty clear that the sales occurred overseas. No one is saying that Apple is misleading about where the sales themselves occur.

　　The question is how that revenue is passed between subsidiaries. So one of the things that Apple does, as well as almost every other tech company, is that they sell their own intellectual property to one of their subsidiaries.

　　So Apple might invent iTunes in California, but then sell the intellectual property, the patents around it, to a subsidiary in Ireland. And then Ireland charges other parts of Apple for the use of the iTunes technology. And so, as a result, the money ends up in Ireland, in theory. And that's where it's either taxed or not taxed, depending upon how the laws are restructured.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Now, this is this isn't the only company that this -- that this committee has focused on. How widespread is the practice of -- with overseas subsidiaries somehow avoiding U.S. taxes?

　　CHARLES DUHIGG:It's incredibly widespread.

　　Now, what the congressional panel, as well as our own reporting, has indicated is that Apple is for more aggressive in this and uses either pioneers and creates tactics or uses tactics that we're not aware of any other company using.

　　But, that being said, there's general policy of particular tech companies trying to lower their tax bill by moving intellectual property and revenues around the world. Almost every single company does this. No CEO wants to say, I'm the one who volunteered the pay the most taxes.

　　And part of the problem here is that we have a tax system that was written -- the last time it was really overhauled¹⁹ was in the 1980s, when the Internet basically hardly even existed, right?

　　It was written for an economy where you build machines and you sell cars, things that are hard to move across national borders. Today's economy, the digital economy, deals in many ways and particularly Apple in things that don't actually exist, computer programs, songs that you download, intellectual property.

　　And those things can flirt²⁰ across borders without leaving a trace, which creates a challenge for today's tax system.

　　MARGARET WARNER:So, Charles, briefly²¹, is there consensus²² on the Hill that the tax code needs another overhaul¹⁸ in this area? And if so, is there any consensus on what the fix might be?

　　CHARLES DUHIGG:There's absolutely consensus.

　　No one say that the tax system is -- corporate tax system is working right now. Everything agrees that it needs to be changed. The big debate is over how it should be changed. There are some people on Capitol Hill, within the business community who say, listen, not only do taxes need to come down, but companies should hold onto a great deal of that money because companies use it much more efficiently²³ than the government does.

　　We saw Rand Paul saying that today in the congressional hearing. There's a number of others who say, listen, companies like Apple, they succeed because they're in a country where they get to hire our university graduates. And those universities are funded by taxpayer dollars. They get to live in cities like Cupertino, which are these beautiful places, because the roads and the fire departments are maintained by our tax dollars, that the patent system that is funded by public taxpayer dollars supports their intellectual property, and that companies needs to pay a fair share.

　　There's a big debate that is going to happen. Change is going to occur, but there's a big debate over what a fair share means and who should be paying it.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Well, Charles Duhigg, New York Times, thank you.

　　CHARLES DUHIGG:Thank you.

　　GWEN IFILL:You can watch all of Apple CEO Tim Cook's testimony²⁴ on our YouTube page.

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

7 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 gimmicks   

n.花招，诡计，骗人的玩意儿( gimmick的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Financial institutions are also often expected yield of gimmicks. 金融机构也往往以预期收益率为噱头。 来自互联网
• However these are just marketing gimmicks that propagate the myth. 然而这些只是噱头的营销传播的神话。 来自互联网

10 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

11 outstrip   

v.超过，跑过

参考例句：

• He can outstrip his friend both in sports and in studies.他能在体育和学习方面胜过他的朋友。
• It is possible for us to outstrip the advanced countries in the world.我们能超过世界上先进的国家。

12 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

13 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

16 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

17 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

18 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

19 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 flirt   

v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者

参考例句：

• He used to flirt with every girl he met.过去他总是看到一个姑娘便跟她调情。
• He watched the stranger flirt with his girlfriend and got fighting mad.看着那个陌生人和他女朋友调情，他都要抓狂了。

21 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

22 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

23 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

24 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。