[dailo10]

Except in this case they went too far and the IRS busted them - to the tune of $7B.

Let’s not pretend like they weren’t trying to get away with not paying their fair share of taxes here.

And to OP's point - if the punishment was in proportion to how much they tried to steal - well, you’d probably see a lot less “creativity” in these tax schemes.

[smabie]

Of course they were trying to minimize taxes, just like everyone else, individuals and corporations alike.

In this case it didn't work, but I don't see any parallels with stealing.