Re: The usual scheme...
US Tax rules are quite different to the UK's. For a start US companies don't pay corporation tax on overseas profits until they are repatriated, and the US rate is relatively high, around 39=40% from memory. So Apple can easily repatriate and it can afford to repatriate as it has a shed-load of cash; but every few years the (not-stupid according to you) IRS offers an "amnesty" on repatriation at a bargain rate and no doubt Apple is waiting for that time to roll around again. Apple *could* save tens of billions by waiting, so it is probably thought to be worth the wait.
The US IRS is also far more politicized than HMRC, the whole Louise Lerner debacle should be a complete blot on their reputation, but thanks to a complete disinterest on the part of the "Justice" department nothing will happen because the "right people" were targetted (aka our political enemies). For all its sins, I don't think HMRC has sunk that low.
But as pointed out many times above, in a general sense corporates don't pay tax, the tax is paid by some combination of the shareholders, employees, customers, and, to a lesser extent, broader stakeholders.If Facebook paid more tax, it would come from some combination of the above.
But if you really don't like FB and it's shareholders, simples, stop using it and encourage as many others as you can to do the same. That'll eventually remove it from the taxpayers list altogether.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
