Apples Tax Efficiency Methods Under The EU Microscope

[GhostShip]

As some of you know Apple use all sorts of legal tricks to pay a substantially thinner ratio of tax than most working people, however it looks like the sound of the fiddle is no longer being enjoyed by the EU.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/29/ec_probe_apple_ireland_tax/

The European Commission is set to accuse Apple of profiting from unlawful state aid from Ireland thanks to the sweet tax deals the firm has enjoyed for the last 20 years, a newspaper has reported.

Sources whispered to The Financial Times reported (behind its paywall) that the EC’s antitrust authority will this week reveal some preliminary findings from its investigation into claims that the firm struck backroom deals with Irish authorities to end up with a tax rate of just two per cent.

The commission announced back in June that it was opening probes into tax decisions in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg over the corporate taxes of Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade, respectively. Competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia said at the time that it was important for member states to play fair and for big business to pay their taxes, particularly after the global recession.

This wont just affect Apple, so I wont focus on them directly but when companies use schemes and loopholes to minimise the tax they pay they are in effect being dishonest in my opinion and such companies should be shunned until they halt such practices, capitalism needs to show it works, instead we see in most cases that fiddling pays and there are comparatively small penalties for such activity when compared to many governments hypocritical attitude about-turn if you undertook the same practices with your own tax affairs.

[..Ñøßߥ..]

Tis not been a good couple of weeks for apple, hopefully even more customers will ditch them!

[GhostShip]

Like yourself Nobby I have no care for Apple and look forward to hearing that they need to pay the right taxes like the rest of us, I dont own or support any Apple products simply because I know they are the product of Chinese factories that practice intensive production leaving their workers simply between shifts on time off, holidays are spaced out months at a time and most of the workers live in accomodation within the factory grounds working through a 24 hour cycle 8 hour shift , I cant morally support such an approach to humanity for the sake of gimmicky products.

[Pri]

From what I understand Apple already pays tax on purchases in the country in which the purchases are made through sales taxes. What the EU doesn't like is that they cant tax Apple twice. Once for the sales of their products and then again for when Apple tries to store that money in one central location.

To put it bluntly they are annoyed that Ireland is giving them a better corporate tax rate for the storage of their cash than other EU member states. Apple won't move the money back to the United States because then it is taxed again. So any money they get from Europe goes to Ireland where it sits and waits for the USA to have a tax holiday where international funds can come home without being taxed.

I guess now it's a race over who'll get the money out of Apple first, the United States or Europe.

[GhostShip]

Its tax rate tourism Pri, its immoral, whilst technically not illegal it leaves a bad smell.