No it‘s not. It‘s the only way to correctly word it. Tax laws are not worth the paper they are printed on when it comes to corporations. They are heavily influenced by corporations with the goal to pay very low to no taxes at all. That‘s not how it supposed to be. Tim Cook prides himself to be a exemplary good human being but at the same time he is ripping off the people by not paying fair taxes. While doing this he has the audacity to say "but that's the law" and refers to a tax law that he basically wrote himself.
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EU to Appeal Against Apple's $15 Billion Tax Bill Ruling
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No it‘s not. It‘s the only way to correctly word it. Tax laws are not worth the paper they are printed on when it comes to corporations. They are heavily influenced by corporations with the goal to pay very low to no taxes at all. That‘s not how it supposed to be. Tim Cook prides himself to be a exemplary good human being but at the same time he is ripping off the people by not paying fair taxes. While doing this he has the audacity to say "but that's the law" and refers to a tax law that he basically wrote himself.
If one doesn’t like the tax law they can lobby to change it. Not paying their fair share is a loosely-goosey term. Tax avoidance is not tax evasion.
So who decides what the "fair share" is? You? Me? A sentient toaster?
I can tell you who is not deciding it. Apple is not... and I can tell you that what Apple payed in taxes certainly was not fair, not even remotely.
However it is still the best way to word it. What Apple did was not tax avoidance. It is a so far very successful plot to withhold Ireland and the EU their due taxes.
So what you are saying is...the bottom line is that Apple paid what the law required and now the EU doesn't like the law so it's trying to backtrack.
But Apple doesn’t decide, the governments do, in this case the Irish government. So you say it’s not fair, but that's just your opinion—the people who are actually tasked with deciding what’s fair are the elected officials, i.e. the government. If your opinion is that "it’s not fair" that's fine, lobby your officials for change.
Also, please see my signature
So, if this is an Apple plot to withhold due taxes from Ireland, why does the Irish government not want "their due taxes"? Why is Ireland fighting the EU ruling instead of saying "Yay! Thanks for getting us our due taxes!"?
But Apple doesn’t decide, the governments do, in this case the Irish government. So you say it’s not fair, but that's just your opinion—the people who are actually tasked with deciding what’s fair are the elected officials, i.e. the government. If your opinion is that "it’s not fair" that's fine, lobby your officials for change.
Also, please see my signature
Of course it's my opinion as is what you are writing yours. What else would it be?
You know as well that "If your opinion is that "it’s not fair" that's fine, lobby your officials for change." is not a fair argument. A company like Apple lobbying for something and me lobbying for something are totally different things. This is a David against Goliath situation and for that we need to stand together against Apple not argue against each other.
Simple... because 23 years ago when Apple arrived in Ireland the Irish government was in dire needed of foreign investment. It's economy was in bad shape and they would have sold their children (figure of speaking) to get foreign companies into their country. In essence it was never a fair deal. And you know how governments are. They will never admit they made a mistake.
No what I'm saying is that Apple approached Ireland in a situation when Ireland was in a very bad economical state. They wrote a law that is only favorable to them and made Ireland enact it. Of course the EU and by that the other countries who are now paying for it don't like it.
What else? Not opinion. My argument isn’t opinion, it’s the law. Apple follows the law; Apple is within the law; the government sets the taxes owed (or rate) and makes that law.
Why stand against Apple and what’s to stand against? They follow the law! If you want to stand against something stand against the government that allows it to happen under the law.
Nah. They didn’t force anything on the Irish government. The government made a deal for their reasons, but they did it eyes open. Also, Apple also wasn’t in the best shape when this was done and their fortunes had yet to turn around (iirc).
That doesn’t explain why the Irish government is fighting the ruling. If anything, if what you say is true, they should welcome this ruling as it gives them plausible deniability and €13 billion!
First I must correct myself. It wasn't 23 years ago when Apple established a foothold in Ireland it was 40 years ago.
Now please read this article in the Irish Times that was written in 2013 and then we can continue to talk:
How Apple first landed in Ireland
The California firm’s tax deals date back to their arrival in Cork in 1980
Yes, I don't know how that "23" came up. Apple was there since the early days and everybody in Europe that cared about technological and computing stuff knew about the corruption and iffy practices in Ireland (aka "paradise") for too long, way earlier than any Panama papers. You had to be really naive to believe that Ireland became a Silicon Valley for the correct reasons. I don't care if Apple finds a loophole and avoids or evades tax in USA. For EU they have to pay and so does Ireland if they want to remain in it.
A wild guess: Legal president, if Ireland lose this case they will have a really hard time fighting similar cases in the future.. Apple is far from the only company who basically never paid any taxes in Ireland. If EU wins here they will likely start going after more cases and Ireland will not be able to keep it’s status as a tax haven.