Because all AAPL shareholders pay taxes on their pro-rata share of the company in the form of capital gains tax and dividends tax.

Also, because this is a valid and consenting agreement between Apple and Ireland, two consenting adults.

If you tax something, you get less of it. Either because you actually really get less of it, or because you encourage clever accounting. (Just look up Hollywood accounting..)

People making profit isn't something we need to discourage.

How about taxing CO2 emissions and eg alcohol consumption instead? (Something we can live with less off.)

And the old classic: put most of the tax burden on unimproved land value. Land's supply is fixed, so there's no economic impact at all.

Alcohol is already heavily taxed

> People making profit isn't something we need to discourage.

Who is discouraging it?

Taxes on profit discourage it.

People working is something we don't need discouraging, not people making profit of them. I hope apple has to pay it and must important, don't have another place to run.

Or just tax the product through VAT for consumer facing companies.

Actually people making ONLY profit is something we should discourage, people investing back their profits and sharing the pie with others is what should be encouraged.