I find it unbelievable that the other EU conuntries allow this to happen.
erm. They don't. See also: multi billion tax settlement.
Germany, for example, lost billions of euros in tax revenue. For nothing.
Germany could lower corporation tax to 0% and a lot of companies would switch their EU HQ to Germany.
But how have Germany lost anything?
Keep it at its simplest: Apple don't make phones in Germany. So every phone sold in Germany is made elsewhere and must be imported. Apple Germany don't make any phones, they buy them from Apple Sweatshops Inc.
Apple Sweatshops Inc. charge for the raw materials, the manufacture, the testing, the design, the IP, the licences. It comes to 95% of the retail price of a phone. Apple Germany choose to run at a gross profit margin that lets them barely cover operating costs and make no profit.
How are Germany losing out here?
Obviously Germany could also ban transfer pricing, but that's probably in conflict with EU rules too, because it's effectively a trade barrier or tariff. Germany could demand realistic transfer pricing but that's a very subjective topic.
Solve this one and you've got a lucrative career providing consultancy services to G8 governments.
Yes. The tax law in the UK is "pay tax, and don't take the piss". Staying in the letter of the law is pointless if HMRC decide you're just being a complete twat and trying to avoid paying your fair share.
Disclaimer: I invest in companies using a tax avoidance scheme. Each company individually requests HMRC approval and I submit the paperwork to prove it on my annual tax return.
See, this is why the UK could leave the EU. We had a catchy one word description for it.
Ireland doesn't have that.
But then, even with a catchy name, Ireland wouldn't be able to leave the EU. If the referendum result is wrong they just keep running them until it's right.
No. It would be the IRS saying in 2000, "We think you are breaking the law so prudently assure that if our investigations determine this to be the case, you can pay the differential" and in 2010, "Confirmed, you're breaking the law. Look, we aren't complete cunts, we're not prosecuting you. Just pay the money you very sensibly set aside and everything's dandy."
You think because Apple is a big company they should be looking at the entire EU and evaluating how the EC commission might view such a deal years (more than 8 years) down the road
Fuck yes. â14bn of potential liability and you think they should ignore it? Shit, the entire board could be sued on an individual basis if they neglect that level of corporate risk.
Consciously choosing to take that risk is a business decision but ignoring it is fucking insane.
As a personal level this would be similar to, for example, my local council telling me to stop paying for refuse collection because they'll do it for free, then the national government going 'that is not allowed, you have to pay for that service' then if I get hit arbitrarily for a bill for four years service, yeah, that's going to hurt.
If the Government say, "We think this is an illegal service and you are likely to have to pay for it. It'll take us a few years to look into this but we recommend you keep some cash in a reserve account just in case" then it's a very different situation.
Apple and Ireland knew this investigation was coming, if Apple didn't recognise the future potential tax liability then their finance team need sacking, and they're not being hit with a backdated charge, they're being receiving confirmation of the correct charges.
Had it been released as an experimental indie game with an exploration/screenshot based self-fulfilment motivation as its published gameplay feature, at a price point suited to match, it would've sold very well and not had anywhere near the subsequent negative press.
Unfortunately it's far more profitable to feed the hype engine, suck in a few million gamers to pay full price and treat the small percentage of refunds as a cost of doing business.
The major publishers then wonder why people don't pre-order..
So turn it around on them. Tell them this silliness usually takes 30-45 minutes so can you have a comfy seat and a cup of coffee, they can run their checks and really isn't this a terribly waste of everybody's time.
I get my pizza as the first delivery from the shop, before they go on to deliver the other pizzas in the car. I don't get battered pizzas. I get delivery on days they have no delivery staff. I didn't pay extra the time I ordered a pizza, fell unconscious, woke up, rang to ask where my pizza was, found out it was three hours later, and had a new one made and delivered to me.
It's the little things. They add up. Anyway, pizza, garlic bread and a tip still come to less than Dominos charge for a pizza, and I get a far nicer pizza too.
There was a powder-keg of misogynist bullshit just waiting to go off
Maybe, but GamerGate wasn't it. Unless you can provide enough evidence to counter the vast tract of material demonstrating collusion amongst games journalists, lapses in ethics and the intentional vilification of the people pointing those out.
Since miso- means hatred, lets skip straight to the biggest manifestations of hatred: Death threats and bomb threats.
Draw me up a list of the documented death and bomb threats that have been validated by the police as legitimate and worth investigation, and lets see where the fucking hatred sits.
The problem is that if you give them viable workable solutions they get pissed off with you. So fuck 'em, and fuck the human race with them.
Given the idiocracy that's a natural consequence of removing evolutionary pressures and the increasing infantilisation of society I'm not seeing any real benefits to putting my pitifully short life towards helping this shower of shit.
I'll be dead soon, the rest of you not long after, and your entire family line in a couple of centuries. Deal with it. I have.
Slashdot Mirror
My Mercedes is a '250' but doesn't have a 2.5l engine.
Someone I work with has a 350e and it has two engines, neither of which are 3.5l.
So no, it's not tied to engine size. It's more akin to the 'relative performance' metric that BMW use.
Better to keep it in the EU, just set a national corporation tax rate at close to 0 and implement generous rules on what can be offset against it.
Curious. What the fuck does this have to do with the US?
Incidentally, this is Slashdot and not Facebook. You're allowed to have adult conversations here.
The EU isn't trying to get Irish income taxes. The EU is mandating that Ireland complies with its treaty obligations not to provide state subsidies.
some welfare states in the EU
..like Ireland? Net recipient of EU funds almost every year.
It's not that EU members want $14.5 Billion. They just want it taken from Apple as a lesson that they can't hide.
You appear to lack basic reading comprehension, and have a very malignant and malformed view of reality.
Just why are you so vitriolic towards the EU requesting one of its members not to break the treaty they signed?
0.005% is half a percent of one percent.
It's like paying $4 in tax on a $80k salary. Shit, if I had a tax rate like that it'd save me hundreds a year.
I find it unbelievable that the other EU conuntries allow this to happen.
erm. They don't. See also: multi billion tax settlement.
Germany, for example, lost billions of euros in tax revenue. For nothing.
Germany could lower corporation tax to 0% and a lot of companies would switch their EU HQ to Germany.
But how have Germany lost anything?
Keep it at its simplest: Apple don't make phones in Germany. So every phone sold in Germany is made elsewhere and must be imported. Apple Germany don't make any phones, they buy them from Apple Sweatshops Inc.
Apple Sweatshops Inc. charge for the raw materials, the manufacture, the testing, the design, the IP, the licences. It comes to 95% of the retail price of a phone. Apple Germany choose to run at a gross profit margin that lets them barely cover operating costs and make no profit.
How are Germany losing out here?
Obviously Germany could also ban transfer pricing, but that's probably in conflict with EU rules too, because it's effectively a trade barrier or tariff. Germany could demand realistic transfer pricing but that's a very subjective topic.
Solve this one and you've got a lucrative career providing consultancy services to G8 governments.
Without the tax incentives Apple wouldn't have put their HQ in Ireland though. So the $14.5bn would've gone elsewhere - Luxembourg, perhaps.
Tax avoidance "schemes" must be registered?
Yes. The tax law in the UK is "pay tax, and don't take the piss". Staying in the letter of the law is pointless if HMRC decide you're just being a complete twat and trying to avoid paying your fair share.
Disclaimer: I invest in companies using a tax avoidance scheme. Each company individually requests HMRC approval and I submit the paperwork to prove it on my annual tax return.
He wouldn't ever meet friends for golf though. He'd be renting a fully equipped mobile office and starting his vacation after he reached Scotland.
Although since he owns the golf course, he isn't on vacation, he's inspecting the facilities and doing UAT on the course itself.
Friends? Shit, he's lucky he isn't having to pay them to help with the UAT.
See, this is why the UK could leave the EU. We had a catchy one word description for it.
Ireland doesn't have that.
But then, even with a catchy name, Ireland wouldn't be able to leave the EU. If the referendum result is wrong they just keep running them until it's right.
No. It would be the IRS saying in 2000, "We think you are breaking the law so prudently assure that if our investigations determine this to be the case, you can pay the differential" and in 2010, "Confirmed, you're breaking the law. Look, we aren't complete cunts, we're not prosecuting you. Just pay the money you very sensibly set aside and everything's dandy."
You think because Apple is a big company they should be looking at the entire EU and evaluating how the EC commission might view such a deal years (more than 8 years) down the road
Fuck yes. â14bn of potential liability and you think they should ignore it? Shit, the entire board could be sued on an individual basis if they neglect that level of corporate risk.
Consciously choosing to take that risk is a business decision but ignoring it is fucking insane.
I would find this genuinely fucking hilarious.
Depends how the conversation went.
As a personal level this would be similar to, for example, my local council telling me to stop paying for refuse collection because they'll do it for free, then the national government going 'that is not allowed, you have to pay for that service' then if I get hit arbitrarily for a bill for four years service, yeah, that's going to hurt.
If the Government say, "We think this is an illegal service and you are likely to have to pay for it. It'll take us a few years to look into this but we recommend you keep some cash in a reserve account just in case" then it's a very different situation.
Apple and Ireland knew this investigation was coming, if Apple didn't recognise the future potential tax liability then their finance team need sacking, and they're not being hit with a backdated charge, they're being receiving confirmation of the correct charges.
Had it been released as an experimental indie game with an exploration/screenshot based self-fulfilment motivation as its published gameplay feature, at a price point suited to match, it would've sold very well and not had anywhere near the subsequent negative press.
Unfortunately it's far more profitable to feed the hype engine, suck in a few million gamers to pay full price and treat the small percentage of refunds as a cost of doing business.
The major publishers then wonder why people don't pre-order..
So turn it around on them. Tell them this silliness usually takes 30-45 minutes so can you have a comfy seat and a cup of coffee, they can run their checks and really isn't this a terribly waste of everybody's time.
Tips build goodwill.
I get my pizza as the first delivery from the shop, before they go on to deliver the other pizzas in the car.
I don't get battered pizzas.
I get delivery on days they have no delivery staff.
I didn't pay extra the time I ordered a pizza, fell unconscious, woke up, rang to ask where my pizza was, found out it was three hours later, and had a new one made and delivered to me.
It's the little things. They add up. Anyway, pizza, garlic bread and a tip still come to less than Dominos charge for a pizza, and I get a far nicer pizza too.
No, pretty much anywhere on the globe a hundred years ago, some places more recently than that.
It's not a binary divide though.
No, they're signing up to do exactly what they already do: Paying people according to experience, capability and contribution.
It's basic economics.
There was a powder-keg of misogynist bullshit just waiting to go off
Maybe, but GamerGate wasn't it. Unless you can provide enough evidence to counter the vast tract of material demonstrating collusion amongst games journalists, lapses in ethics and the intentional vilification of the people pointing those out.
Since miso- means hatred, lets skip straight to the biggest manifestations of hatred: Death threats and bomb threats.
Draw me up a list of the documented death and bomb threats that have been validated by the police as legitimate and worth investigation, and lets see where the fucking hatred sits.
It sounds more like a misogynist, whiny excuse
No, it doesn't. Buy yourself a fucking dictionary, and/or a clue.
They encrypt my hard drive and loose the key
(OK, I made that one up)
Give them a couple of years, they'll soon be offering you a variety of ransomware options.
How do you make the father play a role in the child's life without child support laws?
Close the divorce courts?
To be fair, a lot of people recognise the issue.
The problem is that if you give them viable workable solutions they get pissed off with you. So fuck 'em, and fuck the human race with them.
Given the idiocracy that's a natural consequence of removing evolutionary pressures and the increasing infantilisation of society I'm not seeing any real benefits to putting my pitifully short life towards helping this shower of shit.
I'll be dead soon, the rest of you not long after, and your entire family line in a couple of centuries. Deal with it. I have.
anything else that qualifies them to be parents
Not strictly true. They have young healthy fertile bodies.
Historically that's counted for far more than wisdom, common sense or other skills.