This article, and others like it, imply that what Apple is doing is unethical. However, the opposite is true: it would be negligent for Apple not to do this.<p>Apple's responsibility is to its shareholders, and that responsibity is to maximize profits. Because it stands to lose billions of dollars in taxes if its income is reported naievely, it makes perfect sense for Apple to spend millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions to optimize its tax flow.<p>As long as nothing illegal is happening, this is just an exams of a company fulfilling its fiduciary duty to its owners.<p>If people think this behavior is egregious and needs to change, the solution is to pass new laws to that extent. No one is going to voluntarily overpay on their taxes.
> in 2011, individual income taxes contributed $1.1 trillion to federal coffers, while corporate taxes added up to $181 billion.<p>amazing. Corporations pay 5 times less taxes.
My lawyer cousin always said it's all about the difference between "avoiding" versus "evading" taxes. But this just seems to take things to another extreme...
If your CFO is not doing everything legal to reduce your company's tax burden, then s/he is negligent in his/her duty and cheating the stock holders. Apple's CFO is very good.