“The European Commission will publish on Tuesday its reasons for opening an in-depth inquiry into the Irish government’s tax treatment of Apple, a Commission spokesman said.,” Barbara Lewis and Tom Bergin report for Reuters. “The European Union’s competition watchdog is looking at whether a number of countries’ benign tax regimes for multinational companies, which helps to attract investment and jobs that might otherwise go elsewhere, represents unfair state aid.”
“Theoretically, if the Commission ruled the tax treatment constituted state aid, Apple, the largest company in the world by market capitalisation, could be forced to repay billions of dollars in tax savings,” Lewis and Bergin report. “However, some tax lawyers said they doubted the Commission could enforce such a ruling and that it is more likely Ireland would simply be forced to change its light-touch approach to taxing multinationals, which other European countries say robs them of tax revenues.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What Apple does is legal. If you think it’s not “fair,” then you need laws and rules that make it illegal. Also, you cannot apply laws and rules retroactively in order to, not tax, but outright steal Apple’s money.
Related articles:
European Commission accuses Apple of prospering from illegal Irish tax deals – September 28, 2014
EU threatens expanded probe into Ireland’s tax practices regarding Apple, Googles, other companies – June 20, 2014
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
Maybe those other European countries should lower their tax rates if they want to compete for tax dollars.
But then again, if you can just pass a law that says “Apple, give me your money” then they wouldn’t have to endure lower tax rates for all the other companies.
The U.S. should lower its tax rates to bring all those jobs and companies back home.
No, first pay off accrued debt, then close unfair tax loopholes that no longer make sense. Only then can the US financially stay afloat. Attempting to slash tax rates before aggressively axing wasteful spending and halting the obscene handouts to lobbyists is financial suicide for the nation. Modern Rome is attempting to battle the foreign hordes while its treasury is empty and the IOUs pile up.
Shameful Shakedown.
When you state, “outright steal Apple’s money” you are unaware that Apple is a publicly own company. They want to OUTRIGHT STEAL INVESTORS MONEY! If Apple held back a dividend payment and stated that it was decided that because a government decided to take their dividend money and that unless another publicly elected government decides to steal your next dividend payment, future dividends will be paid as planned. People need to understand who is being robbed when they do this crap. It is the investors who have lost that money to the redistributing government trolls. Again!
MacDailyNews Take: What Apple does is legal. If you think it’s not “fair,” then you need laws and rules that make it illegal.