A decision in the European Commission's probe of Apple's tax affairs in Ireland may not be reached soon, according to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager (via Bloomberg).
“Don’t hold your breath,” she told reporters in Brussels on Monday about the timing of decisions targeting Apple and online shopping giant Amazon.com Inc, whose tax affairs in Luxembourg are also under intense scrutiny. “I’m just warning you.”
Apple is one of several multinational corporations, alongside Amazon, McDonald's, Starbucks, and others, that have been targeted for possible corporate tax avoidance in Europe. Brussels launched the probe in June 2014, and it formally accused the iPhone maker of receiving illegal state aid from Ireland three months later.
If Apple's $64.1 billion in profits generated from 2004 to 2012 are subjected to a 12.5% tax rate, compared to its current foreign tax rate of about 1.8%, the company could owe more than $8 billion in back taxes. Apple continues to deny any wrongdoing, and vows to appeal any decision that goes against the company.
Apple operates multiple subsidiaries in Ireland to pay significantly less tax outside of the U.S., where it earns up to 60% of its revenue. A decision in the tax probe was originally expected in late 2015, but the European Commission's request for additional information has pushed the investigation into 2016.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Top Rated Comments
[doublepost=1457377228][/doublepost]If you check what Apple is really doing you would be horrified. The corporate tax in the UK is 25 percent in Ireland it is 12.5 percent. You would think they are actually paying the 12.5 percent in Ireland. Facts show they pay next to nothing because the income from Ireland is then sent to some Caribbean offshore tax structured company.
I think it should be called Racketeering.
Still, this company has in the past has a history of embracing people who openly admit they're criminals. From "Good artists copy, great artists steal" with a big grin to not telling the customer base about a known defect then trying to pin the blame on them for when the problem exhibits itself (e.g. iPhone 4 antenna). Why would the present bunch of folks be any different, especially if the predecessor chose them?
[doublepost=1457381801][/doublepost]Multinational companies, otherwise they wouldn't have moved jobs or taxes offshore to begin with. They have zero loyalty to one country despite taking every form of corporate welfare/entitlement from us. Consider that.