--- description: Woz thinks 50% would be fair title: Apple Should Pay Much More Tax, Says Co-Founder Wozniak image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted18238a072d9b81/69889052a988ca01b26b78ce/steve-wozniak-apple-tax.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Apple Should Pay Much More Tax, Says Co-Founder Wozniak by [David Meyer/Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## David Meyer/Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2016 11:16 AM CUT  Steve Wozniak speaks during the Silicon Valley Comic Con in San Jose, Calif., March 18, 2016. Steve Wozniak speaks during the Silicon Valley Comic Con in San Jose, Calif., March 18, 2016.Josh Edelson—AFP/Getty Images by [David Meyer/Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## David Meyer/Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2016 11:16 AM CUT Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks the company — and all other companies — should be paying a 50% tax rate. Woz [told the BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077cl0q "undefined") that he doesn’t like the idea that Apple is not paying taxes the way he does as an individual, saying he was worried its tax practices may be “unfair.” “I do a lot of work, I do a lot of travel and I pay over 50% of everything I make in taxes, and I believe that’s part of life and you should do it,” Wozniak said. Asked if Apple should be paying such a rate, he replied: “Every company in the world should.” Not that Woz, who left Apple over three decades ago, can do anything about it. “I would not have any power and I don’t think it would be right for me, Steve Wozniak, to try to influence how Apple handles it, and I would have no effect anyway,” he [said](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36108378 "undefined"). “They’re going to take the thing that saves the last little penny. Apple’s so huge they don’t have to give in to anything.” Apple recently [paid $348 million](http://fortune.com/2015/12/30/apple-italy-taxes/ "undefined") to settle a dispute with the Italian tax authorities, over the way it funnelled Italian profits through an Irish subsidiary in order to minimize its taxes. It could also face a [bill for billions in back-taxes](http://fortune.com/2016/01/15/apple-taxes-europe/ "undefined") if the European Commission concludes that Ireland gave it preferential treatment with its tax deal there, in a way that amounted to illegal state aid. The company (like others) has made use of [complex arrangements](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ireland-tax-idUSBRE99E0PD20131015 "undefined") involving Ireland and Bermuda to cut its tax bill. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook [recently said](http://fortune.com/2015/12/18/tim-cook-apple-taxes/ "undefined") the accusation that it was avoiding taxes was “total political crap” and the idea of bringing profits back to the U.S. was not “reasonable” because it would “cost me 40% to bring it home.” He also claimed Apple is already the biggest corporate tax payer in the U.S. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/04/22/apple-woz-tax/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://www.fortune.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/"},"headline":"Apple Should Pay Much More Tax, Says Co-Founder Wozniak","datePublished":"2016-04-22T11:16:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:57:41.776Z","description":"Woz thinks 50% would be fair","url":"https://time.com/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/","keywords":["Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted18238a072d9b81/69889052a988ca01b26b78ce/steve-wozniak-apple-tax.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Meyer/Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted18238a072d9b81/69889052a988ca01b26b78ce/steve-wozniak-apple-tax.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"steve-wozniak-apple-tax","caption":"steve-wozniak-apple-tax","creditText":"Josh Edelson—AFP/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/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/","name":"Apple Should Pay Much More Tax, Says Co-Founder Wozniak"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama on Tax Avoidance","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tB7JoQEo/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-05T17:38:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tB7JoQEo.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4304549/apple-should-pay-much-more-tax-says-co-founder-wozniak/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```