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A decision in the European Commission probe of Apple's alleged "sweetheart tax deal" in Ireland is expected to be reached by September or October, according to Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan (via Reuters).
"Commissioner Vestager indicated to me that there wouldn't be a decision in July but there would probably be a decision early in the autumn. My expectation is September or early October," Michael Noonan told a news conference after meeting antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday.
Apple is accused of sheltering tens of billions of dollars in Ireland in exchange for creating jobs in the country, a deal that could be considered illegal state aid. The company operates multiple subsidiaries in Ireland to pay significantly less tax outside of the U.S., where it earns up to two-thirds of its revenue.
Apple's $64.1 billion in profits generated from 2004 to 2012 could be subject to a higher 12.5% tax rate, compared to the less than 2% that it pays, in which case it could owe more than $8 billion in back taxes. Apple insists that it is the largest taxpayer in the world and pays every cent of tax it owes under current laws.
A decision in the tax probe was originally expected in late 2015, but the European Commission's requests for additional information pushed the investigation into 2016. Apple is one of several multinational corporations to be scrutinized for corporate tax avoidance in Europe recently, alongside Google, McDonald's, IKEA, and others.
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Top Rated Comments
Apple, just like any other intelligent entity is entitled to take all the legal steps they can to avoid paying taxes. Nobody, no matter how rich or poor is just going to give up money to the governments that they don't legally owe.
Even Warren Buffett thinks that Billionaires should be paying much more taxes, but until he HAS TO, he is not going to just donate to government.
All that missing tax, that Apple doesn't pay, means Apple is socializing its company structure worldwide, thereby creating negative funding outcomes for countries where Apple reduces tax. That's the reality of Apple paying less than 2% tax -- citizens, even those who don't buy Apple, are financially supporting Apple's corporate operations, this includes some of the poorest in the world which are supporting one of the wealthiest companies. That needs to end, and end fast.
Should Pokemon Go, the creator of Flappy Bird, and the makers of Candy Crush, no longer pay 30% to Apple? After all that's Apple punishing their success. They worked hard so Apple should take a lower percentage.