Apple

Why to file early; suing robocallers; taxing stolen money; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

European Union regulators reacted coolly to Apple Inc.’s move to repatriate hundreds of billions of overseas dollars to the U.S., saying “nothing has changed” in its order for the iPhone maker to pay back taxes to Ireland.

Farewell, Ireland: it looks like corporate America will finally bring that cash home.

Companies that stockpiled trillions of dollars offshore free of U.S. income tax may get one last break before paying up—provided their fiscal years don’t follow the calendar year.

The name that Republican tax writers gave to a new, multibillion-dollar business levy implies that it targets foreign earnings from “intangible” intellectual property—hitting tech firms and drugmakers like Apple Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

Senate Republicans tucked some multibillion-dollar tax increases for corporations into the 515-page tax bill they released this week—spring-loaded hikes that would begin after 2024 if the economy doesn’t grow as fast as GOP lawmakers have promised.

Ireland is set to miss a deadline to hire managers for Apple Inc.’s tax billions during an appeal of a European Union antitrust ruling, the latest delay in a saga that has dragged on for more than a year.

U.S. companies that make billions of dollars from patents and other intellectual property held offshore would be eligible for a special 12.5 percent tax rate on those earnings under the Senate tax plan.

Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, the developers of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet software program, commemorated "National Spreadsheet Day" on Tuesday.

Amazon.com Inc. was slapped with a European Union order to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) plus interest in back taxes to Luxembourg as the world’s biggest online retailer became the latest U.S. giant to run afoul of the bloc’s tough rules on government subsidies.

On the last page of a nine-page tax plan that calls for slashing business rates, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans proposed a little-noticed, brand-new tax that may hit companies like Apple Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

Business owners and entrepreneurs are sometimes notoriously closed off to advice from others, including from their own accountant.

The arrangement would hold roughly $17 billion in a fund while the tech company appeals a ruling.

Multinationals are in line for a windfall from President Donald Trump’s call to cut the tax rate on U.S. companies’ stockpiled overseas earnings, but a select few would do better than others.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said any new, lower federal tax rate on U.S. companies’ overseas earnings should be mandatory for all companies, and proceeds should be spent on upgrading U.S. infrastructure.

This year, tax reform could give U.S. companies access to hundreds of billions of dollars they have stashed overseas. Many corporations can’t wait that long.

Apple Inc. has set up a court battle with European Union competition watchdogs who ordered Ireland to claw back a record 13 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in unpaid taxes.

FreshBooks, an accounting software for self-employed professionals, now offers Apple Pay.