Originally Posted by DWB

It was a metaphor, obviously a bad one.

If they must tax us, there should be a flat tax and that's all there is to it. But until that happens, we ALL have access to and have to abide by the same tax code. The only difference between Apple and the average American is that Apple utilizes the tax code to their extreme benefit while the average American doesn't do anything other than pay what he is told he owes. However, no one is stopping him from from using the same tax laws as Apple to reduce his tax burden or even pack up and move the hell out of the country where he too can pay no taxes in some situations.

For the tax year 2013 I legally won't pay a penny in Federal taxes unless I make over $97,600. If I do go over that, I only pay on the income that is over that amount, plus I still get to deduct a bunch of things from whatever that amount is. No real complaints here. I had a problem, I found a solution. To quote my grumpy old neighbor who lost his business and home to the IRS, "if you don't like it, leave." So I did.