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'It's Tricky': Apple Misses the Deadline To Pay $13.9 Bn To Ireland in Illegal Tax Benefit (cnbc.com)
Apple has not fully paid the 13 billion euros ($13.9 billion) it owes to Ireland in illegal tax benefits even though the deadline has passed, the European Union's competition said on Tuesday. From a report: "Well the recovery is not done yet but we have been working with the Irish authorizes and we can see that they are moving forward to do the recovery of the unpaid taxes," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said during a press conference in response to a question by CNBC. "It's a tricky thing to do because it's a large sum so of course you have to figure out how to do that. It's not as an escrow account in some of the other cases where it might be 25 or 30 million euros ... and therefore I do respect that it's a complicated matter and it may take a little more time. Last year, the Commission ruled that Ireland must recover 13 billion euros in "illegal tax benefits" from Apple. It found that the U.S. technology giant paid an effective tax rate of 0.005 percent in Ireland in 2014.
Hard to free up cash when all your money is hidden in holding companies, dodgy schemes and tax havens.
"I'm sure Apple is quite pleased that an EU commission can decide laws for Ireland and decide if Irish laws are "legal" or not."
I don't think anyone cares what Apple thinks, after all it was the democratic will of the Irish people that allowed that power to be handed to the EU in the first place, and it's within the grasp of the democratic will of the Irish people to choose to leave too.
But given that Ireland was an irrelevant poverty stricken backwater for pretty much it's entire history up until more modern times when it joined the EU, and given that it nearly went bankrupt still again in recent years and was saved only by the EU and other international players, I'm sure the Irish wont be too upset by the idea of making sure their government is held to international norms and doesn't get to just act as an illegal tax haven (illegal as defined by their own laws as per their agreement of EU membership).
It would seem a bit odd to say "We're leaving the EU, but we still need you to give us free trade, we'll probably also still be entirely financially dependent on you even though we're draining cash from your countries via tax evasion though".
If Ireland wants to exit the EU then sure, have fun being an irrelevant poverty stricken backwater, again.
And that's why such tax evasion is a bad thing: it's unfair competition. I hate taxes as much as the next guy and I would like to "avoid" them where I can. But in practise tax evasion and the secret tax rulings that are so popular in my country (which puts the Dutch in the Double Dutch Sandwich) are accessible only to large entities. As a small business owner paying 25-50% tax, how are you supposed to compete against companies that end up paying 0.005%?
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
And still, if this wasn't Apple but Paddy O'Random not paying his tax, he'd find his home raided and emptied out tonight.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The very LAST thing Ireland really wants is to enforce this law. For good reason. Right now they get a bit of the cake, but they get a bit of the cake from everyone because every company, from Apple to Amazon to MS to Google, is hiding in their tax shelter.
If they now actually fold (and yes, that would be Ireland folding to EU pressure), what reason is there for them to stay in Ireland? The weather?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I accidentally modded down. Posting to erase. Absolutely insane. Whether you agree with a country's tax schemes, a sovereign nation has the right to decide these issues for themselves.
This idiotic bullshit "sovereignty" meme needs to die.
Being able to do whatever the fuck you like while everyone deals with you as if you're nice is not the definition of sovereignty.
Ireland agreed to not give state aid as a condition of being in the single market and the EU. They are sovereign because they can give state aid whenever and however they like, but they won't get to keep being in the EU.
You know what? Being sovereign is not being given cool shit while you act like a dick. It means people won't start shooting at you for things like that. Ireland is sovereign because no one will shoot at them if they say "fuck you" to the EU. Florida, Arkansas, Alabama etc are not sovereign: last time they tried to leave, some other people started shooting at them until they stopped. Ireland is free to invoke Article 50 (or just leave the club by fiat) any time they want and not a single shot will be fired.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I hate taxes as much as the next guy and I would like to "avoid" them where I can.
Yeah you hate taxes but you love the civilisation that they buy. If you really hate taxes, you can always move to the Libertain Paradise of the Congo where the government pretty much doesn't have the werewithal to collect taxes to any significant degree. Of course then you have you have to put up with living in a non functional country and so provide everything for yourself.
I like taxes because I like living in civilisation. I am happy to contribute my bit.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
> As a small business owner paying 25-50% tax, how are you supposed to compete against companies that end up paying 0.005%?
You're not, and that is by design.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50