Apple has to pay up to 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) - plus billions more in interest - in back taxes to Ireland after the European Union found Tuesday that the U.S. technology giant contributed almost no tax across the bloc's 28 countries for 11 years.So, if you made sixty grand, under Apple's tax rate, you'd pay three bucks in taxes. No wonder the Euros are not happy.
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EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that a three-year investigation found Ireland granted such lavish tax breaks to Apple that the multinational's effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1 percent in 2003 to a mere 0.005 percent in 2014.
Warm up the tar and grab the pitchforks.
And Apple is complaining to the media that if they're forced to pay this it will "hurt innovation and investment" in Europe.
ReplyDeleteWhy should anyone trust what they say in the first place? Throw the CEO and board members into Cell Block Six next to the surviving gang members of The Wire and have at it.
They aren't "cheats"....they got a deal from Ireland to invest in that country. The rest of the EU doesn't like it, and they should deal with Ireland to fix the issue.
ReplyDeleteApple followed the law that was in place.
I think Apple is getting screwed because the EU needs money.
I can see forcing Ireland to tax them differently going forward, but trying to do it retroactively is bullshit.
Let's see...Apple "licensed" it's products from Apple Ireland to Apple A, B and C (etc), then claimed that the license payments flowed through Apple Ireland to the "Head Office". The "Head Office" was a non-corporal entity that reaped the benefits paid while existing in no country, and thereby owed no taxes. Nope, nothing fishy about that.
ReplyDeleteB., under the EU rules against government subsidy, they can absolutely collect the back taxes, and fines. When you elect to move your tax HQ to a low-tax country, you have to check out all the little caveats that might apply.
The simplest way to address this would be to have the U.S. forgo the taxing of the overseas revenue (whether by corporations or individuals) but tax all activity within the U.S. The current nature of the U.S. tax code pretty much encourages this kind of shit, and makes individuals who wish to move and live overseas often have to renounce U.S. citizenship, as foreign banks often will not allow American's to either open or keep bank accounts because of the current reporting rules.
For example, Mr. Hoffa moves $100 million to Switzerland. Mr. Hoffa's interest on said money would be not taxed by the U.S., but any monies he repatriates is taxable income. In the case of Apple, the taxes would be solely on U.S. based activity, and they would not be avoided by moving HQ overseas on paper. Any salary/paymeant to U.S. based employees or owners would be taxable U.S. income, no matter their paper "tax home".