Tim Cook Says Accusations That Apple is Avoiding Taxes Are 'Total Political Crap'

60 Minutes has posted a preview of their upcoming Charlie Rose interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook in which Cook vehemently denies that Apple has engaged in any type of scheme to avoid taxes.

Rose's interview will cover a wide-range of topics including taxes, encryption technology and manufacturing products in China. Rose also gets a peak inside Jonathan Ive's secret design lab and Apple's store of the future.

Cook becomes visibly agitated when Rose reminds him that the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concluded that Apple is engaged in a sophisticated scheme to pay little or no taxes on $74 billion in overseas revenue.


"That is total political crap. There is no truth behind it", says Cook. "Apple pays every tax dollar we owe."

When asked about bringing in overseas profits. Cook says he would "love to" but can't "because it would cost me 40 percent [in taxes] to bring it home. And I don't think that's a reasonable thing to do."

"This is a tax code, Charlie, that was made for the industrial age, not the digital age. It's backwards. It's awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago. It's past time to get it done."

Take a look at the preview clip below. The 60 Minute special airs at 7:30 ET on Sunday.