EU probe of Apple's Irish tax deal extended to 2016
A European Union investigation into whether Apple's bespoke tax arrangement with the Irish government amounts to illegal state aid has been delayed again, as officials in Brussels continue to gather more information.
Source: European Commission
"We do not expect any decision until after the new year," a spokesperson for the European Commission told the Financial Times. It is the second such delay this year.
What was initially thought to be a June conclusion was first pushed back in early May.
"We will not sacrifice the rule of law or the quality of our work to speed up the process," European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said at the time, blaming the delay on the "time consuming" process of gathering information.
While Apple has long maintained that its arrangement with Ireland is entirely legal, the company is nevertheless preparing should the decision go the other way.
"If the European Commission were to conclude against Ireland, it could require Ireland to recover from the company past taxes covering a period of up to 10 years reflective of the disallowed state aid, and such amount could be material," the company wrote in a recent quarterly report.
In addition to Apple, the Commission is also investigating similar arrangements between Amazon and Luxembourg as well as Starbucks and the Netherlands.
Source: European Commission
"We do not expect any decision until after the new year," a spokesperson for the European Commission told the Financial Times. It is the second such delay this year.
What was initially thought to be a June conclusion was first pushed back in early May.
"We will not sacrifice the rule of law or the quality of our work to speed up the process," European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said at the time, blaming the delay on the "time consuming" process of gathering information.
While Apple has long maintained that its arrangement with Ireland is entirely legal, the company is nevertheless preparing should the decision go the other way.
"If the European Commission were to conclude against Ireland, it could require Ireland to recover from the company past taxes covering a period of up to 10 years reflective of the disallowed state aid, and such amount could be material," the company wrote in a recent quarterly report.
In addition to Apple, the Commission is also investigating similar arrangements between Amazon and Luxembourg as well as Starbucks and the Netherlands.
Comments
Anyway, if that's a common usage then I am unaware of it, sorry for the intrusion.
in the US ive only read it used to mean resident (which is diff than a citizen).
https://www.google.com/search?q=denizen&oq=denizen
I'll take a pulp horror recommendation anywhere I can find it
So what's the point really ?
a
Asking why a Eurocrat does things is like the fox asking the scorpion why it stung him, leaving them both to drown. It's in their nature.
I would love to see reform of US corporate taxes to reduce the cost of bringing back funds earned overseas. First I would allow any taxes paid overseas to be used as tax credits for corporations repatriating funds to the United States. So if Apple paid a 3% tax rate in Ireland, then the taxes owed in the United States would be what ever the taxes due in the United States minus the amount already paid to Ireland. Second I would reduce the top tax bracket in the US to 15% and I would raise the minimum Corporate tax rate to 7% except in cases of natural disasters. 3rd I would reduce the loop holes in the corporate tax system by at least half. The effective tax paid in the US by corporations is much lower than the stated top rate of 35%. It is really frustrating that our system has become so corrupt that it is necessary to explain the importance of honesty in business dealings. With less complexity in the tax code we could have a much more transparent, honest and business friendly system. Businesses who simply took care of their responsibilities would be the ones who benefit the most.
A company can decide in which EU member state it puts its headquarters, and all the profits made in the EU are taxed in that member state. Member state can define their own corporate tax levels and rules, but they cannot give individual companies special conditions, as the latter is justly seen as illegal competition.
There definitely something fishy with the Apple construction. The normal corporate tax level in Ireland is 12,5% or 25% depending on the type of business. Apple has been paying less than 2 % on its EU profits. At the moment Apple made the deal with the Irish tax administration, Apple was well aware that the deal might be judged as illegal by the EU Commission. They took then the risk and no one should now complain about it.
There is a credit for tax paid overseas. It's not 35% on top of taxes already paid, it's 35% less taxes paid overseas. Some analysies suggest Apple is paying less than 5% on it's overseas earnings through it's various shell games, which would be why they are so reticent on repatriating funds and would go a good way to explaining how their pile of cash is so gargantuan.
I'm not sure where this idea of top tax bracket and minimum tax has come from. Corporation/company tax is levied at a flat rate on profits, is it not? It's deductions that can vary.
Though, on the subject of minimums, since these annual taxes seem to be subject to manipulation via deferrals, re-positing of income, strategic abuse of deductions, and combinations thereof, I'm in favour of a tax validation that acts on the total profits posted over a longer period, 5 or 10 years, or possibly even at the ad-hoc discretion (with limits) of the tax authority that can review and apply additional tax on profits accumulated over that period to ensure a minimum level of tax on profit is paid, that does not allow for any deductions at all. Doubt that'd ever happen though, tax authorities are becoming ever more toothless.
Re: paying 5%... how could the EU let this go for 10 years or more?