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Apple Appeals EU Tax Ruling, Says It Was a 'Convenient Target' (reuters.com)
Apple has launched a legal challenge to a record $14 billion EU tax demand, arguing that EU regulators ignored tax experts and corporate law and deliberately picked a method to maximize the penalty, senior executives said. From a report on Reuters: Apple's combative stand underlines its anger with the European Commission, which said on Aug. 30 the company's Irish tax deal was illegal state aid and ordered it to repay up to 13 billion euros ($13.8 billion) to Ireland, where Apple has its European headquarters. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, a former Danish economy minister, said Apple's Irish tax bill implied a tax rate of 0.005 percent in 2014. General Counsel Bruce Sewell and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri outlined in an interview with Reuters at Apple's global headquarters in Cupertino the company's plans for its appeal against the Commission's ruling at Europe's second highest court. The iPhone and iPad maker was singled out because of its success, Sewell said. "Apple is not an outlier in any sense that matters to the law. Apple is a convenient target because it generates lots of headlines. It allows the commissioner to become Dane of the year for 2016," he said, referring to the title accorded to Vestager by Danish newspaper Berlingske last month.
While it might be unwanted on the moral/ethical compass, tax evasion is not illegal.
It is illegal. That is what defines tax evasion. When legal means are used to avoid paying tax, it is called tax avoidance.
Apple played by the rules, and the Irish government agreed on it
That does not make it legal. By making this arrangement with Apple, the Irish government violated EU directives it had previously agreed upon.
The EU desperately needs more cash, so they try all sorts of things, including these tricks
Enforcing the law in this case will not result in a single cent going to the EU. They are forcing the government of Ireland to collect the taxes Ireland is owed. Moreover, I don't think the EU is desperately in need of cash. I don't know where you get that idea from. The EU budget has been more or less stable for a long time.
This is a sign that the EU is cracking up.
This is a sign that you don't know what you are talking about.
WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG again.
I will point you to the following article on the supremacy of EU law over national law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I will then point you to the third amendment of the Irish constitution, which enshrined this primacy of EU law into the Irish constitution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The EU has *VERY* strong rules on state aid. The Irish government gave Apple a special tax deal, that was not available to everyone. This has been found to break those state aid rules and is therefore illegal under EU law and as EU law has primacy over Irish law as confirmed by the third amendment to the Irish constitution then it is illegal.
It is amazing the crap people spout about this sort of stuff without the first clue as to what they are talking about.
...apples have alway been a convenient target.
That's simply false, taxation across the EU is not set by the EU and corporate tax rates are not level across the EU or even within each nation state.
Corporate tax rate:
Austria 25%
Belgium 34%
Czech 19%
France 33% (36.6% above 3.5 million euros)
Germany 30.175% to 33.325%
etc. etc.
The rates are not required to be level across the EU, and they are not level even within each nation state. Taxation simply isn't within the EU remit, and your broad "no financial advantage" has no legal basis.
Apple does not receive state aid from Ireland and taxation is not within EU remit. The nations have not agreed to harmonize it, and so EU Commission has no such power.
To point 1: Have you even read a single history book on Europe? The current post-war period is probably the longest stretch of general peace Western and Central Europe has ever had.
To point 2: How is a common market and currency contributing to cultural homogeneity? Is the US homogeneous? Is China? Is Canada?
To point 3: The population of the EU is over 500 million people. Why does 200,000 employees seem so outrageous?
To point 4: There are a common set of rules governing the Common Market.This adds a layer, but the benefits of companies being able to trade on that open market largely unimpeded by tariffs and other trade restrictions more than make up for extra regulation.
To point 5: The European Union is a creature of treaty, a multilateral treaty between all its member states. It isn't a national government, so trying to compare it to one is absurd.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
The EU has just recently decided to reinterpret their laws to ban the rules Ireland has had in place for 25 years, and then do so retroactively to arrive at $14B.
People don't reinterpret anything. The laws have been in place and were unchanged. If someone is in legal grey area it's their due diligence to seek clarification. Failing to do that and continuing to work in a law that isn't 100% clear can lead to an unfavourable outcome when an interpretation is sought in the court about a specific circumstance.
This is literally how every law works. But by all means, point me to an interpretation of the law that was given to Apple to allow their practice by the EU courts. When you do also call up Apple because if they had such a thing this would be a very open and shut case for them, which is not what it looks like.