Apple Boss Hits Back At Tax Dodging Claims

Apple CEO Tim Cook has suggested that claims the tech giant is avoiding paying taxes on overseas profits are politically motivated.

His comments come amid a debate in the United States over big corporations avoiding taxes through techniques such as so-called inversion deals, where a company redomiciles its tax base to another country.

Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) saves billions of dollars in taxes through subsidiaries in Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , where it declares much of its overseas profit.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) holds $181.1bn in offshore profits and would owe an estimated $59.2bn in taxes if it tried to bring the money back to the US, a recent study showed.

But Mr Cook insisted that the company was not a cash hoarder.

"That's total political crap, there is no truth behind it," he told CBS' 60 Minutes show, according to an excerpt ahead of broadcast on Sunday.

"Apple pays every tax dollar we owe."

He said bringing profits back to the US would cost him 40%, and added: "I don't think that's a reasonable thing to do."

Mr Cook laid the blame on an antiquated tax code and called for Congress to make changes to it.

"The current tax code was made for the industrial age, and not the "digital age," he said.

"It's backwards. It's awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago."