Charlie Rose interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook on 60 Minutes tonight. The topics discussed include Apple’s funds overseas and tax issues, Apple’s new headquarters, and Jony Ive’s design studio.
Cook was agitated when reminded by Rose that many in Congress believe Apple is engaged in a scheme to pay little or no taxes on $74 billion in overseas revenue. “That is total political crap. There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe,” he says. “We pay more taxes in this country than anyone,” he tells Rose.
Apple pays more because its makes the most money of any corporation on its ubiquitous products that are best sellers around the world. Two-thirds of Apple’s revenue comes from overseas says Cook. Like most U.S. multinational corporations, Apple keeps that overseas income in foreign subsidiaries, to avoid U.S. taxes. He says he would “love to” repatriate it but he can’t “because it would cost me 40 percent [in taxes] to bring it home. And I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to do,” he says. “This is a tax code, Charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. It’s backwards. It’s awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago. It’s past time to get it done.”
You can watch the program as it airs or catch a preview on CBSNews.com