Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Cook Faces Senate Questions on Taxes

The tone of the hearing turned tense before the Apple executives appeared, as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., an anti-tax hawk who reflects tea party sentiment, insisted that the subcommittee apologize to Apple for unfair scapegoating.

“If anyone should be on trial here it should be Congress … for creating a bizarre and byzantine tax code,” said Paul. “If you want to assign blame, this committee needs to look in the mirror and see who created that mess.”

Levin countered angrily that no such apology would be forthcoming. “Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s a great company, but no company should be able to determine how much it’s going to pay in taxes ….. by using gimmicks,” he said.

And Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the subcommittee’s senior Republican, condemned Paul’s remarks as “offensive” for accusing Levin of bullying Apple executives.

Levin called Ireland a “tax haven,” an appellation Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny rejected when speaking in parliament in Dublin on Tuesday.

“We are not a tax haven. American investors quite understand that. Our (taxation system) is statutory-based and clear and transparent and effective right across the board,” Kenny said.

He also denied the assertion in the subcommittee’s report that Apple had negotiated an Irish corporate tax rate of less than 2 percent. All companies pay the standard rate of 12.5 percent on profits from Irish operations, the prime minister said.

“Reports of lower effective tax rates appear to arrive at their figures by running together the profits earned by group companies in Ireland and in other jurisdictions,” Kenny said.

The article Apple’s Cook Faces Senate Questions on Taxes originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Associated Press.

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