APPLE Inc used "loopholes" to avoid paying US$9 billion in US taxes in 2012, US Senator Carl Levin said yesterday at a hearing that brought the company's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to Washington to defend the strategies.

　　2012年苹果公司用“漏洞”来逃脱支付90亿美元的美国税款，美国参议员Carl Levin在昨天举行的听证会上说，从而导致公司的首席执行官蒂姆·库克来到华盛顿采取捍卫策略。

　　"Apple executives want the public to focus on the US taxes the company has paid, but the real issue is the billions in taxes it has not paid," said Levin, a Michigan Democrat. Apple employs "offshore tax strategies whose purpose is tax avoidance, pure and simple," he said.

　　“苹果高管希望公众关注该公司支付的美国税收，但真正的问题是数十亿美元的税收他们还没有支付，”密歇根州民主党人莱文说。苹果公司雇佣“离岸税务策略，其目的是避税，单纯而简单，”他说。

　　Apple, in written testimony, denied any wrongdoing and said the company was one of the largest taxpayers in the US, having paid US$6 billion last year.

　　苹果，在书面证词中，否认有任何不当行为，并表示该公司是美国最大的纳税人，在去年支付了60亿美元税收。

　　Cook and two other executives - including Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer - appeared before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The panel, led by Levin, in a report on Monday said Apple's subsidiaries include three entities that have no home country for tax purposes.

　　库克和其他两名高管——包括首席财务官彼得·奥本海默——在常务调查委员会之前出现。这个小组由莱文领导，在周一的一份报告说苹果公司的子公司包括三家分公司不属于任何国家，也没有纳税。

　　In the last four years, Apple has avoided paying taxes on US$44 billion in income, said Senator John McCain of Arizona, the panel's top Republican. He called the company "one of the biggest tax avoiders in America."

　　在过去的四年里，苹果公司逃了440亿美元的税收，亚利桑那州参议员约翰·麦凯恩说，该委员会的共和党领袖。他称该公司是美国最大的避税者。

　　Three entities set up in Ireland hold 60 percent of Apple's profits and claim to be tax residents "nowhere in the world," McCain said. "It's completely outrageous."

　　在爱尔兰设立的三个子公司持有60%的苹果利润，宣称自己不是“世界上任何地方”的税收居民，麦凯恩说。“这完全是荒唐。”

　　Not all lawmakers supported summoning Apple executives to the hearing. Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said Apple was dealing with an "awful" tax code.

　　并不是所有的议员都支持召唤苹果高管听证。参议员兰德·保罗，一位肯塔基州共和党议员表示，苹果在处理一项“可怕”的税法。

　　Apple also said it supports a broader overhaul of the US tax system.

　　苹果还说它支持全面改革美国的税收系统。