Slashdot Mirror
Shouting 'Pay Your Taxes', Activists Occupy Apple Stores in France (marketwatch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes MarketWatch:
A group of global activists stormed and occupied several Apple Stores in France on Saturday in a move aimed at pressuring the company to pay up on a €13 billion ($15.5 billion) tax bill to the European Union. In a press release, the France unit of the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen's Action organization (Attac), said 100 of its members occupied the Opera Apple Store in Paris, demanding the company pay its taxes... Attac said dozens of protests were organized at other Apple store locations throughout France on Saturday. In the Paris store, activists were seen via videos circulating on Twitter, pushing past security and hanging a banner that said "We will stop when Apple pays." Security in Paris reportedly evacuated Apple workers from the building as those protests began.
After three hours they left the store -- leaving behind protest messages on the iPads on display. The group claims that Apple has stashed $230 billion in tax havens around the world, but also hopes to raise awareness about other issues.
"Attac said the action was part of the #PhoneRevolt movement aimed at highlighting unfair practices by Apple, that are not just about taxes, but also pollution via extraction of metals for its phones, worker exploitation and driving a global consumption binge."
After three hours they left the store -- leaving behind protest messages on the iPads on display. The group claims that Apple has stashed $230 billion in tax havens around the world, but also hopes to raise awareness about other issues.
"Attac said the action was part of the #PhoneRevolt movement aimed at highlighting unfair practices by Apple, that are not just about taxes, but also pollution via extraction of metals for its phones, worker exploitation and driving a global consumption binge."
Giant corporations don't pay taxes, they evade them. Then they hoard more money by using $2/hr Chinese labor which is illegal anywhere else but okay since it is across a line on a map and in China. Then they buy out their competition and use frivolous IP lawsuits to limit new competition. There, now you know everything you need to know in order to become a member of the Corporatist movement and control your elected official using money.
"Why did they put that killer in jail, when he brushed his teeth every day?"
Your first assumption is that you can weight these things against each other, and your second assumption is that this must be done. Why? The only place where boiling ethics down to a boolean is effective is in Hollywood movies.
Oh, I wasn't under the impression that Apple uses their own private road network in the EU, but I am clearly mistaken.
Yes, it is much better to always accept things as they are and never complain.
There is a middle ground: They could educate themselves, and then direct their outrage more constructively. For instance, if the French don't like their tax laws, perhaps they should complain to their politicians rather than to a company that is behaving legally.
Note that I'm French.
If your sentiment that the reason for the protests were that french people desire companies to pay their taxes were true, they would have been protesting in Total gas stations. The problem is that Total, (who owes more money in taxes to the French Government) Is French so it wouldn't be popular. Muuch better to target that foreign Apple company...
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
Since Apple's corporate headquarters is in the U.S., we get the money first.
Why would you get the money? Apple isn't the subject of a US court battle about the US not collecting taxes from Apple properly. Apple pays as much taxes in the USA as is required by law, unlike in the EU where it was found their tax agreement with Ireland was illegal.
Complaining to their politicians would never have made the front page of international newspapers to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the current tax laws.
#DeleteFacebook
Apple's headquarters are in the US but it also has branches in the EU, and these branches depend on the laws of the country they are in.
So when Apple Ireland makes a sale in the EU, it has to pay taxes to Ireland, like any Irish company. And Apple France has to pay taxes in France. That the headquarters are in the US doesn't matter. And it's a good thing, otherwise, the headquarters would have been quickly relocated to a tax heaven.
Complaining to their politicians would never have made the front page of international newspapers to raise awareness about the issues surrounding the current tax laws.
There is already plenty of awareness. I have seen dozens of front page articles about Apple's tax dispute with the EU.
But awareness is not enough. It is important to take action, and to direct that action appropriately. A good example is the reaction on both the left and the right to America's financial bailout. The left reacted with "Occupy Wall Street", which focused on street protests against the companies that received the bailout. The right reacted with the "Tea Party" and focused on electoral politics, endorsing candidates that met their approval, and promoting challengers to those that did not.
OWS never articulated any clear objectives, has now faded away, and is mostly forgotten.
The Tea Party, meanwhile, has taken over the Republican Party and is now running the country.
Lesson learned: Proper focus makes a difference.
If only MLK and his followers would stop their boycotts and protests and informed themselves of the political process they'd get so much more.
MLK's boycotts and protests always had clear and specific objectives. Integrate the buses in Montgomery. Raise the wages of garbagemen in Memphis. Etc. There was always a clear point where he could declare victory, and move on to the next objective.
He was also very skilled at working with politicians, especially Lyndon Johnson.
Contrast MLK with OWS or BLM, neither of which has any clear objectives or accomplishments.
EU countries impose massive tax burdens relative to the rest of the world. Excessive taxation, especially for how EU countries spend the money, is unjust. Refusing to pay unfair and excessive taxes is a moral position. Apple should continue to not pay the taxes, and they are completely justified in that position.
We get a good universal healthcare system, good welfare state, good education system and decent infrastructure for our money. You may think we're taxed to death but the tax burden per capita in the UK for the NHS is the same as the tax burden per capita of Medicare/Medicaid is for the US yet we get a healthcare system where it is free to use for all. We also get things provided for free that are an additional cost in the USA. We don't pay a separate charge through our local taxes for the fire department for example.
I'd rather keep paying the taxes and have what we have than not do and end up living in a first world country where highway bridges are collapsing and people go bankrupt because they get ill.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams