• Apple repays €14 billion in unpaid tax to Ireland, EU drops court case
    16 replies, posted
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/09/apple-repays-e14b-in-illegal-aid-to-ireland-so-eu-drops-court-case/ European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said Tuesday that the European Commission will finally close its legal investigation into Apple's failure to pay back taxes to Ireland after the company paid €14 billion. Ireland's finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, applauded the EC's move. Over two years ago, Ireland was formally referred to the European Court of Justice after it failed to implement a 2016 order that required the island nation to collect the same amount in unpaid taxes. Back in September 2016, as Ars reported, Commissioner Vestager said at the time that a two-year investigation into so-called sweetheart tax deals in 1991 and 2007 had found Apple guilty of receiving illegal state aid from the Emerald Isle. The deal had allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of one percent on its European profits in 2003, down to as low as 0.005 percent in certain years, according to Vestager. https://twitter.com/vestager/status/1042078376486424576 https://twitter.com/Paschald/status/1042119394091061248
We rich now boys!
From the article it looks like your government actually helped Apple dodge tax tho
They did, but no one ever likes our government so we just expect them to do shit like this.
I hope the tax influx is invested well.
Fucking scummy of Apple to do this in the first place considering Ireland has the lowest taxes in the EU by far in the first place. The EU should harmonize their taxation levels so that these motherfuckers actually pay the amounts they should to maintain the infrastructure they make extensive use of.
its going to sit in a bank for the next few years as apple spends approximately 13 billion in legal fees to reverse that decision sadly.
Oh wow, a big company paid its taxes, how rare. ...
Ireland cooperated with Apple tho. As far as I remember they purposely let them get away with 12bn in taxes and didn't go after it just to continue attracting investments all across Ireland. Then EU Forced Irish government to go after Apple unpaid taxes. And this is where we are. can't wait for that money to be shit away.
"Introducing our new company investment development plan, we spent approximately all of the money on a new office building for apple, as well as 100$ on some beer for the occasion."
As one local said: "Its in Escrow Fund, so its still Apples until the law says otherwise. And for anyone who thinks Ireland will see all off that 13bn, its EU countries who will take the majority of it. That's why Ireland are opposed to it, they wont get it and its in their best interest to ensure Apple keep it."
Those countries which happily scuttle their public budget for the sake of "attracting investments" are ruining it for everyone else. Sure, they do individually benefit from that, but on the whole that's less public money EU-wide.
the problem is they overestimate the local benefits from the jobs and never recover that money, let alone make money. there's no good way to counter a big company coming in and threatening the government though.
They have done a really good job with fear mongering about the EU. Especially amongst the elderly
Ireland aided Apple in this. It wasn’t just Apple. For good reason though. As someone else said, Ireland won’t see the full amount and most of it will likely go to other EU countries which is pretty bullshit. I have have no problem with taxes, but believe it or not, I trust Apple more with their money than the government. Even if that money was used to pay Apple executives, I would still prefer that than it potentially lining the pockets of a bunch of asshole politicians who aren’t even a part of the country the tax originated from.
What? You said you don't trust the government, yet you say they fucking absolved Apple from taxes "for good reason"? How convenient that you believe they have good intentions the one time they do something you like. Ireland is already denying the rest of us quite a bunch of money simply by virtue of basically being a tax haven that leeches potential investors from other EU countries, forcing them to keep taxes low or lower them to compensate. So it's the bare fucking minimum that they give part of what little extra tax money they perceive to the EU. Besides, that's how the EU fucking works. Every member pay they share so that the union can conduct projects that wouldn't be as easy to achieve for a single nation, or so that it can help development in some areas for members that need it, or to fund joint projects. I don't know where you got this idea that it could "potentially all line up politicians' pockets", but even if that were true (it's not), you can vote politicians out if they misbehave. You can't vote Apple executives out. I never got people who put more of their trust in self-serving corporations which are unaccountable for than in the politicians they themselves elect. You're pissing away your own power by doing this.
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