# Apple says their building is worth $200 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659 "2018-08-15T15:35:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/1 "2018-08-15T15:35:59Z")
Maybe Cook got this idea when he met Trump last week? > **[Apple argued building was worth $200 not $1B to lower tax bill](https://thehill.com/policy/technology/401776-apple-argued-its-buildings-were-worth-200-instead-of-1-billion-to-reduce/)** > > The now-$1 trillion tech company has 489 open appeals in tax disputes over property assessed at $8.5 billion in Santa Clara County, Calif., dating back to 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/2 "2018-08-17T19:38:21Z")
Wow I managed to stump the band with this one. Nobody has any comments? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/3 "2018-08-17T19:43:21Z")
Well, if they also get Tennessee Avenue and St. James Place they can build hotels and charge everybody who lands there through the nose. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/4 "2018-08-17T19:50:43Z")
I say let Santa Clara County use eminent domain to take the property for $200 and then start charging Apple rent. Or just sell it. Any company that lowballs on such a claim should be treated that way. "Hey, you said it was worth … " ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/5 "2018-08-17T19:58:08Z")
Heh. The Kings of Denmark used to make a lot of their revenue charging tolls on ships passing through the Danish straits. Supposedly, rather than making everyone unload their cargo and then inspecting it (which would be time consuming), they’d just ask the ship captain what he was carrying and how much it was worth, then take their cut based on that declaration. The trick was that they reserved the right to buy your cargo on the spot, at whatever price you claimed it was worth. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/6 "2018-08-17T23:42:38Z")
If Apple’s tax returns were in a Library, they would be in the “Young Adult Fiction” section. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/7 "2018-08-17T23:54:54Z")
There are, obviously, laws which generally prevent this type of thing. Property taxes are common and if people could just arbitrarily set their assessment as low as they wanted, everyone would do it. If an ordinary property owner tried this, the government would send over a public assessor and they would inform the owner what the value of their property was - and tax them based on that figure. But things can be different at high levels. Apple may find it cheaper to pay some legislators to rewrite the law in their favor than it would be to pay the taxes on their property’s true value. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/8 "2018-08-18T13:36:34Z")
One thing about Apple is their crap don’t stink, way more than other businesses think that. A lot of Apple fans think Jobs was the second coming. He seemed to think that himself, thought he did not need silly old doctors to treat cancer. Guess he bet wrong on that one. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/9 "2018-08-18T13:38:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But things can be different at high levels. Apple may find it cheaper to pay some legislators to rewrite the law in their favor than it would be to pay the taxes on their property’s true value. For quite a few years now the highest ROI a company can get is donating to select politicians (committee chairs and such). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/10 "2018-08-18T18:07:07Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > For quite a few years now the highest ROI a company can get is donating to select politicians (committee chairs and such). Rich and influential people have always sought to receive preferential treatment; that’s just the nature of self-interest. But it’s generally limited by the self-interests of people who aren’t rich or influential acting as a counterweight. What’s new is the way rich and influential people are now able to convince so many poor and powerless people to support political platforms that are weighed in favor of the rich and influential and against the poor and powerless. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/11 "2018-08-19T03:40:32Z")
If they don’t want to pay taxes, they could just have their HQ building take off and return to the mother ship. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/12 "2018-08-19T04:13:18Z")
Why not just declare their operating system a religion and their building a temple. No taxes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/13 "2018-08-19T12:58:25Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Why not just declare their operating system a religion and their building a temple. No taxes. Shhh. Don’t give them any ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/14 "2018-08-19T14:08:52Z")
Remember when Apple were the Good Guys and Bill Gates was the Bad Guy? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/15 "2018-08-19T20:55:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Shhh. Don’t give them any ideas. Many, many people spend lots and lots of time with head bowed over their iPhones. It’s already a de facto religion. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/16 "2018-08-20T16:51:18Z")
Here’s what I don’t get. The linked article happens to say this: “Apple is now valued at $1 trillion. It is also the county’s biggest taxpayer, paying $56 million in the 2017–2018 tax year.” Apple profits last year were about $50 Billion. How are they paying a net tax rate of 0.1%? Never mind, the article said the $56M is just what they pay to that county. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-says-their-building-is-worth-200/819659/17 "2018-08-20T16:57:23Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Heh. The Kings of Denmark used to make a lot of their revenue charging tolls on ships passing through the Danish straits. Supposedly, rather than making everyone unload their cargo and then inspecting it (which would be time consuming), they’d just ask the ship captain what he was carrying and how much it was worth, then take their cut based on that declaration. The trick was that they reserved the right to buy your cargo on the spot, at whatever price you claimed it was worth. Seems to me you could design a nice little board game around this, similar to [Sheriff of Nottingham](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157969/sheriff-nottingham).