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Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

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Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#11

All of that will go back to Ireland's national debt repayments under EU rules from what I understand, which includes large repayments due to the EU for the recent loans provided to Ireland for propping up banks, so really EU is collecting this money by proxy of Ireland. Interesting play.

Debt, not depth ;)

Thanks, fixed ;-)

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#13
post #4

Good. Read how Tim Cook publicly considers Nobel economist Joeseph Stiglitz as a one who do not know what he (Stiglitz) is talking about. Eye opening. Excerpts from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/wp/2016/08/13/2016... Q: What do you say in response to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz’s comments on Bloomberg [television], where he called Apple’s profit reporting in Ireland a “fraud”? Tim Cooks answer: I did…

Apple paid taxes according to Irish laws. Is it Apple's problem that Irish law disagrees with EC agreements? (Seems to be Ireland's problem.)

If people want companies to pay certain taxes, they should vote for politicians that pass laws that require companies to pay those taxes..

In any case, we should be taxing land value. That's harder to avoid: you can't hide land.

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#15
I don't think this was planned but it could become a great bait and switch scam for countries.

1. Negotiate special tax privileges for a company

2. Have them set up shop in your country

3. Allow them to pay little tax for several years

4. Have federal authority sue saying that the deal in #1 is illegal

5. Collect back taxes based on normal tax rate and not the special deal in #1

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#16

All of that will go back to Ireland's national debt repayments under EU rules from what I understand, which includes large repayments due to the EU for the recent loans provided to Ireland for propping up banks, so really EU is collecting this money by proxy of Ireland. Interesting play.

So this works out at about 20% of the EU/IMF bailout amount or 6% of total Irish national debt.

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#17
post #9
post #2

And here the press release from the European Commission http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en.htm

Jeez, an effective tax rate on profits in Ireland of 0.005% is pretty inexcusable.

Why? 0% tax on profits would seem fair and reasonable.

(There's lots of stuff that's not taxed. Eg not a lot of people complain about not taxing capital gains of home owner/occupiers.)

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#18

Can someone clarify where this money will eventually end up (assuming it's paid)? The article says that it will be paid back to Ireland, yet it looks like Ireland was somewhat complicit in allowing this fraud to continue for so long? ' Is this just how it works, money goes to Ireland, and then recovered by Europe?

AIUI the money is owed to Ireland but Ireland originally refused it, EC is now saying "no, really, you have to take it". Might be followed up by Ireland getting into trouble if they unfairly benefited from the deal?

That said, I think Ireland owes the ECB money too, so they'll probably use that money to repay their debt?

EDIT: Corrected EU->ECB as pointed out below.

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#19
post #15

I don't think this was planned but it could become a great bait and switch scam for countries. 1. Negotiate special tax privileges for a company 2. Have them set up shop in your country 3. Allow them to pay little tax for several years 4. Have federal authority sue saying that the deal in #1 is illegal 5. Collect back taxes based on normal tax rate and not the special deal in #1

I don't see how that would work (at least in Europe). Companies know now that the EC is going to come after them eventually unless they have their head buried in the sand and didn't hear today's news.

Re: Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

#20
post #15

I don't think this was planned but it could become a great bait and switch scam for countries. 1. Negotiate special tax privileges for a company 2. Have them set up shop in your country 3. Allow them to pay little tax for several years 4. Have federal authority sue saying that the deal in #1 is illegal 5. Collect back taxes based on normal tax rate and not the special deal in #1

They will not collect back 100% anyway, maybe maybe 1/3 of the total amount.
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