Amazing Apple

While Apple broke no Irish laws, it was masterful at tax avoidance. To wit, Apple paid a microscopic 0.005% of its profit in taxes, 1/2500th of the 12.5% official Irish rate, between 1991 and 2007. It may now retroactively owe $15 billion in taxes. Apple did this because intellectual property revenues can be easily shifted, intercountry tax laws are easily gamed, tax rules are amazingly subjective, and Apple was brazen.