“The European Commission has told Ireland it may investigate more companies as part of a probe into the country’s tax practices, after announcing a formal probe into Apple Inc’s Irish subsidiaries, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday,” Foo Yun Chee reports for Reuters.
“The EU is investigating whether Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have attracted investment and jobs by helping big companies avoid tax in other countries, including EU members,” Foo Yun Chee reports. “Corporate profit-shifting has come under the international spotlight in recent years following reports of how companies such as Apple and Google Inc. use complex structures to slash their tax bills. The Commission suspects Ireland was too lenient in rulings it gave to Apple and which helped the company shield tens of billions of dollars in profit from tax and has asked Dublin for information on the rulings it gave the iPhone maker.”
“Apple has denied receiving selective treatment from the Irish authorities. Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg said any tax rulings they give are in line with international practices,” Foo Yun Chee reports. “An Irish finance ministry spokesman said the ministry had no knowledge of the EU threat. ‘We have provided information to the Commission for the information-gathering exercise and in relation to any case, it regards one company and one company only and we haven’t been informed of anything in addition to that,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Blah, blah, blah.
How this will affect Apple? Zero, zilch, nada.
Related articles:
EU’s investigation of Apple’s taxes isn’t going to cause the company any problems – June 13, 2014
EU launches tax avoidance investigations on Apple, Starbucks, Fiat – June 11, 2014
Not in Taxes anymore: On site at Apple’s famous Irish ‘headquarters’ – November 2, 2013
Regan: U.S. tax code spurs loveless foreign corporate ‘marriages’ – May 13, 2014
Ireland to close Apple’s tax loophole, but leave bigger one open – October 15, 2013
G20 think tank OECD proposes blueprint for global crackdown on tax avoidance – July 19, 2013
Thomas Sowell on Apple, corporate taxes, and ‘the road to serfdom’ – May 28, 2013
Taxing Apple just taxes you – May 24, 2013
Don’t tax Apple, tax its shareholders – May 24, 2013
If Apple paid more tax, we might pay less or something – May 22, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook pounds another nail into the Keynesian coffin – May 22, 2013
Apple CEO Cook makes no apology for company’s tax strategy – May 22, 2013
About time they actually got off their backsides and did something rather than release endless leaks to the media.
We could then perhaps have some facts to discuss
I have looked at Google practices: there could be issues due to their tricks with intellectual property rights’ “outsourcing” that allows them to pay less taxes via not owning the rights directly, but “renting” it for very high price and putting it as expenses in accounting books.
Apple does not do any intellectual property tricks like that, the company is absolutely safe.
Who’s this Foo
oh, just another foo
same damn article, just another “me too” report, pssh
Why isn’t Bezo getting probed?
The tax advantages enjoyed by Apple, Google and others using the so-called Dutch sandwich are substantial. Luxembourg has the lowest VAT rate in the EU and Ireland has the lowest income tax rates. The Dutch have special rates on all taxes for multinationals meaning they pay only nominal rates.
Apple uses these trajectories absolutely legally so enabling them to pay as little tax as possible in the EU. For Asia they use other trajectories having the same effects.
The EU is fed up with public outcries to actually do something about this. Now they are slowly tightening the knots around the multinationals by investigating and changing the rules.
The Eu isn’t in charge of countries tax rates.
Maybe not yet. If two or three members are diverting revenue from all the rest, that could change fast.