--- title: Apple CEO Tim Cook Renews Call for Corporate Tax Reform description: In a new interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook defends his company's offshore cash stockpiles and calls for corporate tax reform. canonical: https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/ author: Alex Fitzpatrick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-15T14:45:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:50:22.745Z article:section: Business og:title: What Apple CEO Tim Cook Really Thinks About Corproate Taxes og:description: He's defending his company's offshore cash og:url: https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt964cd984b433c4aa/698876495f570fb63fb1eead/gettyimages-169188469.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Apple CEO Tim Cook Testifies At Senate Hearing On U.S. Tax Code og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Apple CEO Tim Cook Really Thinks About Corproate Taxes twitter:description: He's defending his company's offshore cash twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt964cd984b433c4aa/698876495f570fb63fb1eead/gettyimages-169188469.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Apple CEO Tim Cook Really Thinks About Corporate Taxes  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Aug 15, 2016 2:45 PM CUT  Apple CEO Timothy Cook testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Investigations Subcommittee about the company's offshore profit shifting and tax avoidance in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill May 21, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Apple CEO Timothy Cook testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Investigations Subcommittee about the company's offshore profit shifting and tax avoidance in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill May 21, 2013 in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Aug 15, 2016 2:45 PM CUT The Apple bulls of the world like to throw around this stat: The company has upwards of $230 _billion_ cash on hand. It’s an impressive number, but it carries an important [caveat](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-isnt-really-sitting-on-216-billion-in-cash-2016-01-26 "undefined"): Most of it is sitting abroad. Apple can’t bring it home without paying approximately 40% in taxes, and CEO Tim Cook has long refused to do that. What Apple is doing is perfectly legal, as far as the U.S. tax code is concerned. Still, that the world’s largest company by market capitalization is parking overseas a sum roughly equivalent to the GDP of Finland has invited plenty of controversy. Some critics say that Apple has a duty to bring the money home and pay up, given that most of its critical research and development work happens in the U.S. (Apple is [separately](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-15/apple-may-be-on-hook-for-8-billion-in-taxes-after-europe-probe "undefined") facing a European investigation into its tax practices.) Now, in a new [interview](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/wp/2016/08/13/2016/08/13/tim-cook-the-interview-running-apple-is-sort-of-a-lonely-job/ "undefined") with _The Washington Post’s_ Jena McGregor, Cook offers his most detailed explanation and defense of Apple’s tax practices yet. He’s also betting, perhaps optimistically, that we’ll see a reform of the U.S. tax code next year regardless of which candidate wins November’s presidential elections. Below is the relevant section. The rest of McGregor’s interview is wide-ranging and well worth your time; you can [read it here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/wp/2016/08/13/2016/08/13/tim-cook-the-interview-running-apple-is-sort-of-a-lonely-job/ "undefined"). --- > “” --- --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/"},"headline":"What Apple CEO Tim Cook Really Thinks About Corporate Taxes","datePublished":"2016-08-15T14:45:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:22.745Z","description":"In a new interview, Cook defends his company's offshore cash stockpiles","url":"https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/","keywords":["Companies","Tech","Apple","Tim cook"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt964cd984b433c4aa/698876495f570fb63fb1eead/gettyimages-169188469.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt964cd984b433c4aa/698876495f570fb63fb1eead/gettyimages-169188469.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple CEO Tim Cook Testifies At Senate Hearing On U.S. Tax Code","caption":"Apple CEO Tim Cook Testifies At Senate Hearing On U.S. Tax Code","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4452336/apple-ceo-tim-cook-corporate-tax-reform/","name":"What Apple CEO Tim Cook Really Thinks About Corporate Taxes"}}]}] ```