After Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook and chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer appeared before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to explain the tech giant's offshore tax practices, the company has made available the opening statements as read in testimony.
The short documents, released just hours after the Senate hearing, sum up Apple's main arguments as presented to the subcommittee on Tuesday.
Central to the hearing was Apple's tax practices, which Cook defended by saying, "We pay all of the taxes we owe — every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws."
At issue are so-called "ghost" corporations Apple set up in Ireland to avoid U.S. corporate taxes, the most well known being Apple Operations International in Cork. The company's subsidiaries are cost sharing arrangements, which Apple said help fund research and development, as well as the creation of new jobs in America.
Cook's opening statement in full:
Oppenheimer's statement:
Tuesday's hearing is part of the Senate's investigation into loopholes large multinational corporations exploit to avoid paying high U.S. taxes. Previously, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard's tax practices went under the microscope, though Apple's recent hearing garnered the most media attention as Cook himself chose to visit Washington to explain his company's actions.