cnocbui

badmonk said:

cnocbui said:

Well I said it would be billions rather than SOG's ludicrous millions.

I hope the final outcome is that Apple eventually have to cough up.  They have over $200 Billion in the bank because they are worlds biggest and most effective tax avoider.  I hope this is just the start of all the other multinational tax dodgers finally getting what's coming to them.

Of course the situation Apple finds itself in is all the fault of the US government, not Ireland or the EU as it is US tax legislation that allows US companies to indefinitely defer tax repatriation while pretending to their host countries their tax is payable in the US.

What are you cnocbui?  a burrowing troll insect?  you do know Apple is the largest corporate taxpayer in the United States and has been in the top three for the last few years.

I am an Irish taxpayer who is slightly annoyed at paying tax to my government that I calculated is at an effective rate 2,226% higher than Apple does.  However, it would seem that I was being overly generous in calculating that rate as I had assumed Cook's 2% was the rate.  In 2014 Apple's tax rate was calculated by the Competition Commission at 0.005%, so that means my tax rate was actually 891,200% times higher than Apple's (why don't they just make it a million times higher just to rub it in?).  I would be happy if Apple was paying tax at the rate it should - 12.5% - even though that would still mean my effective tax rate was nearly 4 times higher than Apple's.

I don't really care what tax Apple pays in the US.  If I was a US taxpayer, I would be more concerned about the rate at which Apple was paying tax, not the dollar amount.

latifbp said:

cnocbui said:

marktime said:

This is really a non-issue for Apple. Foreign taxes paid are a credit against Apple's US tax liability. Assuming that at some point Apple repatriates its cash to the US, as long as the marginal US tax rate at that time is greater than what the EU is claiming this won't have any impact on Apple's overall tax liability. Apple has never been against repatriating the money, they have been against paying a 35% tax rate when their competitors (Samsung et. al.) get to pay a much lower than the rate. At a 20% rate I'm sure Tim Cook would bring a lot of that cash back to the US.

Otoh, whatever is paid to the EU is tax money that the US won't collect. This is more of a grab by the EU on money that would otherwise end up in the US Treasury. You would think that the US would be a lot more energetic in fighting the EU on this.

If the US chooses to view this as the EU grabbing 'their' taxes and takes punative action, it will be the end of globalisation and we will see a return to a world of quotas, high tarrifs, subsidies and trade restrictions.

Apple siphoned AU$23 billion from the Australian economy via it's Irish subsidiary.  Apple only paid the Australian Tax Office 0.07% of that in tax.  Countries simply can not afford to let the US hose their economies like that for long without taking preventative measures.  I am sure the US government is about to embark on a course to try and preserve this state of affairs but they can only fail

It's spelled punitive, with an i. You continue to spell this word wrong over and over

That should be: "You continue to spell this word 'incorrectly', repeatedly" or "You continue to 'misspell' this word..."

foggyhill said:

brakken said:

Um, this is news? 'Distracting children from horror of surgery makes them not think about surgery.' WTF.
AI seems to be leaking IQ recently...

They're comparing this to MEDICATION.

So, you intuitively thought that medication was less (or as) effective than the Ipad...
Well, good for you...
 And why would anyone believe you then...
Run the actual test in the real world to see if its actually true.

Science relies on facts, not gut feeling.

If this had anything to do with science, they would have also had a control group with Android based tablets.

Soli said:

franklinjackcon said:

wigby said:

Please show me someone who willingly pays as much tax as they can. I do not and you do not. Tax loopholes and accountants exist because we are all human and want to spend our own money instead of giving into others to waste.

If your tax rate dropped to .05% tomorrow, you would gladly pass less and then complain when it was unfairly raised. This situation is no different than the deal that Ireland (not Apple) allegedly created.

The rest of us have to make up for what Apple, Google and Amazon don't pay.

If you're an Apple, Google or Amazon customer you're also making up for what they do pay.

Which in the case of Apple, is next to nothing.  0.07% of sales in the case of Australia, for example.

e1618978 said:

What happens to Ireland if they refuse to tax Apple?  i.e. what is the "or else" part of this demand that gives the EU power?

What I have read suggests that if Ireland refuses, it would be hit with €13 Billion in fines payable to the EU Commission.  What actually might happen is that over the course of however many years it would take, The EU would withold 13B worth of payments Ireland otherwise would have received.  The effect on the country would be far more severe than Apple pulling up sticks and leaving.  There isn't an icecream's chance in hell of Ireland not abiding by any final post-appeal ruling.