Apple Pays Federal Income Tax Worth $6 Billion In 2012
Even the extremely successful Apple isn’t safe from the taxman. If anything, it’s due to pay some of the highest federal income tax in the United States.
MacRumors has reported that Apple has paid a total of $6 Billion in federal income tax for 2012. The amount tallies up to about a fortieth of the total corporate tax collected by the United States government. That is a little above 2% from the overall total, solidifying Apple as one of the highest taxed companies in the country.
Despite its staggering federal income tax bill, Apple has been often criticized for using the legal system to cut down its federal income tax. Apple allots an estimated 70 percent of its total revenue abroad. This allows Apple to make use of foreign laws to shield itself from high United States federal income tax.
Still, Apple claims that any federal income tax exemptions it may enjoy are well within the laws of the United States government.
Apple has been reported to be one of the first corporations to utilize what is now known as the “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich”. The method allows a company to cut down its federal income tax by coursing its profits through various European subsidiaries before returning back into the corporation. The result is a substantial decrease in owed federal income tax. Because of Apple’s success with the method, it isn’t uncommon for notable multinational corporations to use the same method to curb its own federal income tax.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax Tags: corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, tax increase, tax the rich
Paying Less and Saving Money on Taxes
Tax season often sneaks up on a person and many people are not prepared to see what happens when their taxes are done come the beginning of the next year. Many families are scared to death when it comes to figuring out their taxes. This is because taxes are the largest expense that a family will run across through out the year. Often times a family will find out that they are paying more in taxes than what is required. There are many tips to help you not fall into this category.
Computer
One of the most popular ways to help you save taxes is to purchase a computer program such as TurboTax or H&R Block’s TaxCut. These programs are becoming more in depth every year can help you save money in several ways. By using one of these programs you will find that you will be able to e-file your tax return. This will help you to save on filing costs or having to pay an accountant or another type of tax preparer. A bonus is that because you have filed electronically you should get your money back in about two weeks.
Itemize
People sometimes lose out on money they are deserved because they do not itemize the deductions that they have. The reason why they do not itemize is because they are trying to save time. However what they are really doing is losing out on probably hundreds of dollars. Taking the time to itemize can help you get a larger return in the end. It is definitely worth the additional time that is need.
Purchase A House
If you are a person who has thought about purchasing a house but has not yet made the final decision you are losing out. You could be paying less tax by being able to deduct interest on the mortgage loan. If you are living in a home but are renting from someone the person you are renting from is receiving the extra dollars from your house. You might want to consider buying the house from your landlord.
401K
Another option for paying less tax is to sign yourself up for a 401K plan. This is a plan that puts money from your paycheck into a retirement account for you. The good thing here is that the money that is transferred into the 401K is not taxable income. Therefore you are paying less in taxes.
There are also other benefits to a 401K such as being able to borrow money from the plan. Many people with bad credit often turn to personal loans with bad credit lenders. With a loan from your 401K plan this will not be necessary because in reality you are borrowing from yourself.
Transfer Credit Card Debt
Another popular way to help you save money when it comes to tax time is to use the equity you have in your home as a debt consolidation loan. Your credit card interest is not tax deductible but the interest from a mortgage loan is. Many people will use a refinance or a second mortgage to help pay off their debts and then claim the interest on their taxes.
If you take the time to do your taxes the proper way you will find that you will have many more tax deductions and will owe a lot less in the amount of taxes that you pay. A little patience while doing the taxes can reward you with more money in the end.
Author Bio
Darrell is a guest post contributor. He loves to write on finance based issues.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax Tags: federal tax, income tax, saving money on taxes, taxes
Settling the tax debts of your own accord
There are many who may have had problems in paying down their tax debts; you are not the only one. So, there’s nothing to feel lost or dejected about this. If you owe quite a large amount in tax debt, there are some options which can help you solve the tax debt problem. The two main options are the installment payment option and the other is the settlement payment option. There are again various options under these two options, which you can avail of in order to pay off your tax debts. The tax debt settlement options work to help you down most of the tax debts.
Settling IRS tax debt
Some of the options under which you can settle your tax debts are:
1. Compromise offer – Offer in compromise provides the option to settle tax debt where you can pay less than the full amount owed. If you cannot pay off the taxes in full, you can try out this option. The circumstances which are considered to determine if you can make payments under this option are:
- Your ability to pay
- Your income
- The expenses and
- The asset equity
2. Penalty reprieve – If there are options for you to prove that there are valid reasons due to which you are having problems in paying down the IRS tax debt (due to non affordability), the IRS may allow you the penalty reprieve. At the least, on an approximation one-third of the tax debt penalty amount resulting out of non-payment of the taxes, may get abated by the IRS later. This significantly lowers the debt amount with regards to the taxes owed by you to the IRS.
3. IRS tax bankruptcy – If you think that you are going to qualify for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can consider trying out this tax debt relief option. It is only the income taxes which can be discharged through bankruptcy, and that too the recent ones. In order to decide as to which of the tax debts can be included in a bankruptcy program, you can talk to your bankruptcy attorney. He/she may let you know about the requirements or the eligibility criteria for including tax debts in bankruptcy. However, you need to know that this definitely cannot be considered as a good option as always, because bankruptcy has a high negative effect on the credit and almost all your assets are going to be liquidated through this.
There is also the option for you to get the help of a tax professional. He/she may help you with settling the tax debts, and therefore help you in solving the tax debt issues. This process won’t be highly different than a debt settlement program, though the types of debts are different. So, these are the options you can have under the tax debt settlement option, and if you are having problems in managing your tax debts, you can try out these options based on the tax debts owed by you, and the level of your affordability.
George Adams is an independent Financial advisor and attached to some financial communities. He has vast knowledge in debt consolidation, debt settlement, etc. For information on debt settlement please visit here: http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/de … ement.html.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax Tags: federal income tax, federal tax, income tax, tax code, tax law