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Apple Will Start Paying Ireland Billions Owed in Back Taxes 'Early Next Year'

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In August 2016 the European Commission ruled that Apple must repay 13 billion euros ($15.46 billion) in back taxes dating between 2003 and 2014. According to the EU, the taxes were avoided with the help of sweetheart tax deals from Ireland, and today The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will now begin paying these back taxes "as soon as early next year."

Ireland's Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, reports that Apple and Ireland have agreed to terms of an escrow fund for the money, setting a pace for Apple to begin repaying the taxes in Q1 2018. Apple's payment will sit in the escrow fund while both sides continue to appeal the EU's decision in court.

In October 2017, the EU announced its intention to take Ireland to court for its failure to recover Apple's back tax sum, with Ireland citing the escrow account as the reason why negotiations and repayment were being held up. Now, Donohoe said the next steps will be to determine who operates the escrow account and who manages the fund once Apple begins the repayment process. The EU said that it will only close court proceedings against Ireland once Apple's back taxes are recovered in full.
Ireland will begin collecting EUR13 billion ($15.46 billion) in back taxes from Apple Inc. as soon as early next year after both sides agreed to the terms of an escrow fund for the money, Ireland's finance chief said Monday.

In a statement, Apple said, "We have a dedicated team working diligently and expeditiously with Ireland on the process the European Commission has mandated. We remain confident the General Court of the EU will overturn the Commission's decision once it has reviewed all the evidence."
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The center of the EU's argument is that Irish revenue commissioners gave Apple unfair advantages between 1991 and 2007 by allowing the company to move income from the European market through two "non-resident" head office subsidiaries based in Ireland.

Ireland's government has stated it "fundamentally disagrees" with the EU's analysis of the tax situation, leading to its appeal. For Apple, the company said that the EU made "fundamental errors" in the calculations related to the taxes it owes, arguing that the bulk of the profits during this period are due in the United States. Apple CEO Tim Cook put it more succinctly after the first ruling came out, calling the tax avoidance claims "total political crap."

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.

Article Link: Apple Will Start Paying Ireland Billions Owed in Back Taxes 'Early Next Year'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/04/apple-start-paying-ireland/
When a company the size of Apple with the earnings of Apple fight to avoid paying the Tax that we ALL have to pay and pay every day and land IN Jail if we avoid paying, it puts this company and its executives in a seriously unsociable light.

And then publicly stating that they're fighting to avoid it just makes me want to vomit. I pay about 40% of all the earnings I make and with those 60% I purchase an Apple product.

Trying to dodge Tax is synonymous with spitting your neighbor in the face and dancing on his grave.

[Update]
I should add that no one is guilty until proven so. And that my opinion is based upon my (perhaps naive) trust in that the EU would not witch hunt Apple over an amount which in the European Union's global Economy is peanuts.
 
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MH01 said:
What....But but ... so many here told me apple owes nothing .... this must be fake news !!
[doublepost=1512408532][/doublepost]

Yeah.... those roads, infrastructure, schools , hospitals blah blah .... build themselves ;)
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Yeah--Good thing Apple is the largest taxpayer in the United States of America. Good thing Apple is the largest taxpayer in the world.
 
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25ghosts said:
When a company the size of Apple with the earnings of Apple fight to avoid paying the Tax that we ALL have to pay and pay every day and land IN Jail if we avoid paying, it puts this company and its executives in a seriously unsociable light.

And then publicly stating that they're fighting to avoid it just makes me want to vomit. I pay about 40% of all the earnings I make and with those 60% I purchase an Apple product.

Trying to dodge Tax is synonymous with spitting your neighbor in the face and dancing on his grave.

Thanks Apple !
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I disagree in that like Apple, I will pay every penny I am required to pay by law. But, also like Apple, I will also try to lessen my tax bill as much as I (legally) can. I, again like Apple, will not ‘land in jail’ if I am found to have paid too little. I will have to, after an appropriate legal proceeding, pay that money back.
 
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25ghosts said:
When a company the size of Apple with the earnings of Apple fight to avoid paying the Tax that we ALL have to pay and pay every day and land IN Jail if we avoid paying, it puts this company and its executives in a seriously unsociable light.

And then publicly stating that they're fighting to avoid it just makes me want to vomit. I pay about 40% of all the earnings I make and with those 60% I purchase an Apple product.

Trying to dodge Tax is synonymous with spitting your neighbor in the face and dancing on his grave.

Thanks Apple !
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Oh that it was so simple. For large earners and corporations, tax paying is largely about tax avoidance, and they have no shortage of elected officials who are more than happy to give them the means to do so. So place the blame where it belongs: on the people who write the tax laws to favor corporations and the wealthy.
 
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truthertech said:
Yeah--Good thing Apple is the largest taxpayer in the United States of America. Good thing Apple is the largest taxpayer in the world.
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Apple pays just £12m UK tax on £2bn profit: Miserly bill is almost £400million short of the figure tech giant should have paid [full stop]

szw-mapple-fan said:
And who gets to decide the amount Apple should have paid? Ireland broke the rules here (retroactively), not Apple. Besides, do you think even that 12 million would be in Ireland had the tax cut not been there?
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I said UK not Ireland. You know the difference, right?
 
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25ghosts said:
When a company the size of Apple with the earnings of Apple fight to avoid paying the Tax that we ALL have to pay and pay every day and land IN Jail if we avoid paying, it puts this company and its executives in a seriously unsociable light.

And then publicly stating that they're fighting to avoid it just makes me want to vomit. I pay about 40% of all the earnings I make and with those 60% I purchase an Apple product.

Trying to dodge Tax is synonymous with spitting your neighbor in the face and dancing on his grave.

Thanks Apple !
Click to expand...
How would you feel next year when the government says you should have been paying 50%, not 40%, and demands that you pay back all those taxes you failed to pay in years prior?
 
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Maybe it’s time for Apple to move back to the US where corporate tax rate was lowered to 20%
Where are those US made macs by the way ??
 
In other news for some unknown reason Ireland's unemployment skyrockets and The Irish Stock Exchange looses half its value in a single day.
Also The Island of Jersey receives a huge investment in an anonymous mfg & data center.
 
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It'll be interesting to see how this works out. Apple owes the taxes, but I really don't see how Ireland are the nation who should be collecting.

I wonder if we'll see others raise their hands later on, demanding their (probably rightful) share of it.
 
miniyou64 said:
Because humans can only build things of value when bureaucrats extort their money and decide that for them?
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No, I don't think anyone said that.

Personally, I'd rather those services were provided by a government answerable to me, than a corporation answerable to its shareholders.

Ireland doesn't have a huge number of things to be proud of, but our education and health systems are far more affordable/accessible than some more capitalistic nations. I'm quite proud of that.
 
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25ghosts said:
When a company the size of Apple with the earnings of Apple fight to avoid paying the Tax that we ALL have to pay and pay every day and land IN Jail if we avoid paying, it puts this company and its executives in a seriously unsociable light.

And then publicly stating that they're fighting to avoid it just makes me want to vomit. I pay about 40% of all the earnings I make and with those 60% I purchase an Apple product.

Trying to dodge Tax is synonymous with spitting your neighbor in the face and dancing on his grave.

Thanks Apple !
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but these kinds of responses are so uneducated. By that I mean that you don't address any of the actual issues and make broad and crazy statements.
There are many reasons that various jurisdictions offer tax breaks on order to lure companies to do business there. It may be to create jobs there.. or to collect some taxes (a lower percentage of something is better than a higher percentage of nothing... etc). This happens here on a state level. Why do you think there are a handful of States in which corporations tend to be based? Or if you don't want to think of it on a corporate level... how about us as individuals. Many people choose to move to a State like Florida, so that they don't have to pay State income tax. Are they spitting on anyone's face doing that?
How about you... did you take any deductions or exemptions on your tax return last year? Why did you... are you not spitting on your neighbors faces by "dodging" taxes?

Edit: I'm not arguing kn favor of these tax issues. I'm just saying if you want to have a real and educated debate, argue the pros and cons. Don't just start stating they are crooks and spitting in people's faces... without even discussing anything pertinent.
 
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