US Uncut, an organization that fights companies that try to avoid taxes, is planning to target Apple retail stores on June 4, protesting the company's support of the Win America Campaign.
The group seeks to have Apple leave the WAC, which it claims is lobbying Congress for what would end up being a $4 billion tax cut for the company, as well as to cease other lobbying activities relating to "tax loopholes."
"Apple plays huge games with their taxes. By disguising profits in the U.S. as foreign earnings in low-tax countries, Apple dodges billions of dollars of taxes they should be paying," the group said in a statement this week.
The WAC is supported by a number of other technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Adobe. The group is currently lobbying for the Freedom to Invest Act of 2011, legislation introduced earlier this month that would temporarily lower taxes on American companies that sell goods and services abroad. That money could then be re-invested within the country, the drafters claim. Despite other companies' involvement, Apple is the group's main target for the "action day" on June 4.
"When this 'Win America' tax cheat coalition wins, we all lose as Americans," US Uncut San Francisco organizer Ana Corrie said in a statement. "We are all disappointed to see a great company like Apple participate in such a deceitful campaign that violates their commitment to operate in a socially responsible manner."
So far the group has put together an action kit containing signs, leaflets, chants, and slogans, as well as a link to Apple's retail store finder. The group has also posted a protest template that involves actually entering Apple Stores to perform a "dance-in" flash mob, along with recording the results using Apple's computers.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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