Well, well …. some in corporate HQ of Wall Street and Washington DC lobbyists won’t be too happy with the lame-duck year of President Obama! First the loss of the UK role as trojan horse inside the Brussels HQ of the European Union, next the teetering negotiations for TTIP as the EC is playing hard-ball, and today not heeding the threats from Jack Lew, US Minister of Finance not to target US corporations with tax levies. 🙂
In addition there are EU “renegade” countries advocating an European Armed Forces separate from NATO so the EU is not subjugated to the whims of US generals, UK hardliners and the policy formed at the Atlantic Council think-tank across the ocean. These states want to reset foreign policy with Russia from before the eight Bush years in the White House and the HRC disaster as Secretary of State. US continued support for an agressive military stance at the request of New Europe
Apple ordered to pay up to €13bn after EU rules Ireland broke state aid laws
Apple has been ordered to pay up to €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland after the European commission ruled that deals between Apple and the Irish tax authorities amounted to illegal state aid.
The commission said Ireland’s tax arrangements with Apple between 1991 and 2015 had allowed the US company to attribute sales to a “head office” that existed on paper only and could not have generated such profits.
The result was that Apple avoided tax on almost all profits from sales of its products across the EU’s single market by booking the profits in Ireland rather than the country in which the product was sold. The figure of €13bn is the equivalent of the annual budget for the Irish health service and campaigners are also calling for the windfall to be invested in public housing.
The taxable profits of Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe did not correspond to economic reality, the commission said. Apple paid an effective tax rate of 1% in 2003 on profits of Apple Sales International. The rate dropped to 0.005% in 2014.
Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, said: “Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.”
The €13bn, plus interest, to be recovered covers the 10 years before the commission first requested information in 2013. The commission said it was up to Ireland to collect the tax from Apple but the Irish government wants the ruling to be reversed because it wants to preserve its status as a low-tax base for overseas companies.
Ireland’s finance minister, Michael Noonan, said Dublin would appeal against the ruling.
Ireland may well decide to follow UK’s Brexit as they have committed their economic welfare to tax dodging of multinationals in exchange for jobs. US Finance department is not happy with this development as the taxes are levied outside the US of its “own” multinationals. Sometimes globalisation works against you dear Senator in U.S. Congress. Happy lobbying.
○ Apple must now pay its taxes. This is a vindication of protest | The Guardian – Opinion |
○ TTIP symbolises the worst of global capitalism. Cameron pushes it at his peril – May 2016 |
