Tim Cook Reaffirms Apple's Commitment to Ireland After Tax Dispute and Abandoned Data Center Plans

[mossy]

If tax wasn't your sole motivation Tim (which it obviously was) then you could have located in London, which is a vastly bigger city with a huge talent base.

1980's London? You having a laugh chum?
Maggie had other things on her mind back then, like driving the economy off a cliff.

Ireland has a corporation tax rate of virtually zero. Every other European nation has rates around 20%. Ireland is a tax haven, which makes them rather unpopular around these parts. Except perhaps with Jean Claude Junker, the EU president, who used to run the EU's other tax haven - Luxembourg. The EU is such a mess.

Not long to go now. Britain will not have to worry about the internal workings of the E.U.
The Irish Government could easily just say to other E.U countries to drop their tax rate if they want to compete. 20% sounds a bit high to me.

 

[djlythium]

99 problems, but a Mac ain't one, eh, Tim?

 

[Objectivist]

Tim Cook is a psychopath.

 

[JadawinUK]

Sorry Tim, but anyone with a business major, or anyone with a thread of common sense for that matter, knows you’re BSing

I'd call it plain old lying. Which says everything about the honesty of Apple.

 

[Swift]

So, this 1.7m is practically the 1.5m iOS (sorry Mac) developers that have to pay money to Apple in order to be allowed to develop/deploy/sell something, the 17k that help preparing Irish-Dutch "sandwiches" and ?

It's a hundred dollars to Apple, which, after the education you need in computer science, the computer equipment and software you need to be a developer-- and you better have nice, high-speed Internet-- the developer fees are tiny. And you get an enormous amount with it. You used to buy a bookshelf of looseleaf binders called "Inside Macintosh," and that was hundreds. I think the developer membership was $1,000 back than. But although there is no guarantee, developers can make millions. Or at least hundreds of thousands.
[doublepost=1529649029][/doublepost]

100% agree. Anyone who knows me knows that I generally like Cook and the job he's done at Apple. He's grown the company to an unbelievable level. That like is countered by my dislike of his disingenuous way of double speaking and pious self promotion. our

You're a businessman running a business; not some altruistic saint making the world a better place. Sell your phones bud. It's what you do best.

Not only that but Ireland and every other country were offering tremendous tax breaks for a new facility that would let their country into the big new industry for the 21st century. If they had known that the E.U. was going to come around 10(?) years later and require Apple to pay it all back wouldn't be legal in America. Fine, end the program, force Apple to pay. But retroactive judgments are much harder to come by. It's not like it was a secret. It must have been in all the Irish newspapers, right?

 

[Bacillus]

Sorry Tim, but anyone with a business major, or anyone with a thread of common sense for that matter, knows you’re BSing

Free umbrella’s for everyone who believes they landed there for the great Irish weather

 

[Danindub]

...just not committed enough to, oh I don't know... open an Apple Store in the country, perhaps...

 

[179202]

Lol. So Tim is sad he found a better deal elsewhere? Nonsense. They went to Ireland for Tax purposes and got busted, just like everyone else. And now they've slinked off to another island somewhere to do the same thing. It's a shame to see Apple trying to so obviously pull the wool over peoples eyes.

 

[simonmet]

Apple loves Ireland ... so much that they don't even have an Apple store in the country. Pull the other one Tim!

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

Lol. So Tim is sad he found a better deal elsewhere? Nonsense. They went to Ireland for Tax purposes and got busted, just like everyone else. And now they've slinked off to another island somewhere to do the same thing. It's a shame to see Apple trying to so obviously pull the wool over peoples eyes.

A few weeks ago, the co-founder of Innocent (big UK fruit drinks company) was on BBCs Question Time. He said that accountants had told them to relocate there head office to the Netherlands. They just needed to tick boxes like holding a few board meetings there etc. To save taxes. He said they weren't interested as they were a London company and should pay taxes here in the UK. Good to see some businesses are ethical.

 

[123]

Cook added that Apple "is not abandoning the Mac,"

 

[Bacillus]

Cook added that Apple "is not abandoning the Mac,"

An irrealistic apply to empathy that hardly anybody can bring up anymore.
As nobody believes him anymore, he’d better leave stage.

 

[tentales]

Cook added that Apple "didn't come to Ireland for tax,"
Plans

Man that's rich. Guess he would make the same statement about incorporating in Delaware.

Apple's tax structure, like many global corporations, is far more complex than that.
Google, "double Irish dutch sandwich".

 

[jschu22]

So much “I cant believe Cook would try to push a less business-focused response!” butthurt here, for the life of me I cannot understand why.

Oh wait, its the internet...

 

[Akiainavas]

1. The Irish government doesn’t want the taxes.
2. The Irish government is specifying the exact amount of taxes that Apple pays.
3. The EU government disagrees with how much Ireland is charging in taxes.
4. Any amount of taxes that Apple pays will never go to the EU, they stay in Ireland.

If the government of Ireland doesn’t want the increased tax money, why does the EU want them to take more?

A: EU is trying to assert control over the country of Ireland, while also shaking loose entrenched hi-tech businesses in the hope they can force Apple and others to move operations to the countries with more influence in the EU.

The propaganda that the EU is out for any kind of humanitarian interest here is nothing but a farce.

Because Ireland has a tax rate of 12.5% for corporations and gave only Apple a rate of less than 0.1%

This is illegal under the EU single market rules and honestly doesn’t even have anything to do with the EU itself. Those are the EEA rules that were broken

By being a member you get free and unrestricted access to the entire union with no tarrifs, customs and import fees.

In return - the rules state that you have to tax every company EQUALLY.

it doesn’t specify how much it should be or whether it should be lower than other states. It can be whatever Ireland wants it to be - even 1% if this is what they wish.

The rules, however, state it has to be the same for every company registered in Ireland.

In this case it was not. Other companies payed 12.5% while Apple got a deal to pay less than 1% while still selling its products and services in entire EU

In short they used the benefits of the single market but did not adhere to its rules

Seriously people this is very, very simple. I don’t get how people can actually support multi billion corporations not paying taxes...

 

[cocky jeremy]

No they negotiated, in return for unfair tax rates, that they would put locations in and business through Ireland. Those unfair rates have been ruled illegal under EU rules.

So until the appeal is heard, the legal judgement is that Apple has benefitted by 13 billion euros through abusing tax law in Ireland and the EU.

Bigger than that though, companies like Apple, which have so much power, have abused loopholes that have drained many billions from countries around the world, which hurts everyone but Apple.

Well, good for Apple. You'd negotiate to get lower taxes too if you could. Anyone that says otherwise is a lying POS.

 

[whooleytoo]

If tax wasn't your sole motivation Tim (which it obviously was) then you could have located in London, which is a vastly bigger city with a huge talent base.

But as tax was your sole motivation you choose Ireland. Lies aren't a good look Tim, you should know better.
[doublepost=1529614106][/doublepost]

And likely far higher living costs than Cork, meaning higher salaries. Higher property prices too.

Plus, considering the sales & support staff in Cork are from all over the EU and support markets throughout the EU, having their headquarters in a country that's leaving the EU would have been quite awkward. Good thing they're based in Cork, and don't have to face that problem.

Ireland has a corporation tax rate of virtually zero. Every other European nation has rates around 20%. Ireland is a tax haven, which makes them rather unpopular around these parts. Except perhaps with Jean Claude Junker, the EU president, who used to run the EU's other tax haven - Luxembourg. The EU is such a mess.

The corporate tax rate is 12.5%. Accuracy is nice.

 

[DevNull0]

Isn't it amazing how often Apple's actions show they have no interest or commitment in something and yet Timmy constantly rants and raves how committed Apple is?

Pro users, Macs, and now Ireland.

Just google for "Tim Cook reaffirms commitment" and once you get past the first 3-4 links to this ireland article it's an endless list of different things he's committed too. Sometimes it's "reiterates" instead of "reaffirmed".

But actions speak louder than words and based on his actions, Tim's words are nothing but hot air.

 

[ackmondual]

If you love Ireland / the community so much, why not pay taxes as that goes towards running the community.

Apple still believes the best way to make the world a better place is to make great products. However, that doesn't help countries who need necessities like water, basic infrastructure, etc.

 

[grad]

It's a hundred dollars to Apple, which, after the education you need in computer science, the computer equipment and software you need to be a developer-- and you better have nice, high-speed Internet-- the developer fees are tiny. And you get an enormous amount with it. You used to buy a bookshelf of looseleaf binders called "Inside Macintosh," and that was hundreds. I think the developer membership was $1,000 back than. But although there is no guarantee, developers can make millions. Or at least hundreds of thousands.

Or nothing, if they are just scientists.

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

Well, good for Apple. You'd negotiate to get lower taxes too if you could. Anyone that says otherwise is a lying POS.

A few weeks ago, the co-founder of Innocent (big UK fruit drinks company) was on BBCs Question Time. He said that accountants had told them to relocate there head office to the Netherlands. They just needed to tick boxes like holding a few board meetings there etc. To save taxes. He said they weren't interested as they were a London company and should pay taxes here in the UK. And that meant the correct amount of taxes. Good to see some businesses are ethical.

 

[Swift]

Tim Cook is a psychopath.

You're an objectivist! That says psychopath to me!

 

[Moi Ici]

If tax wasn't your sole motivation Tim (which it obviously was) then you could have located in London, which is a vastly bigger city with a huge talent base.

But as tax was your sole motivation you choose Ireland. Lies aren't a good look Tim, you should know better.
[doublepost=1529614106][/doublepost]

Ireland has a corporation tax rate of virtually zero. Every other European nation has rates around 20%. Ireland is a tax haven, which makes them rather unpopular around these parts. Except perhaps with Jean Claude Junker, the EU president, who used to run the EU's other tax haven - Luxembourg. The EU is such a mess.

Awww, feeling a bit hurt are we? You’ll be out of the eu soon enough.
[doublepost=1529709374][/doublepost]

How long has it been there? 20 years? Maybe it wasn't down so far on the list more than a generation ago.

Nearly 40 years give or take....

 

[itr81]

Why does anyone care? I mean really?
Steve setup the deal back in the 80’s.
The only ones that this impacting is the folks that may gotten a job at the new data center.

If Apple has to pay more then so do we.
And with the way things are going we’ll have to pay more taxes anyway if this trade war goes sidesways with China.

 

[Baymowe335]

Tough crowd. Wondering how well these arm chair CEOs are doing with their company.
[doublepost=1529720555][/doublepost]

I can't imagine him getting bad press if he came out and truthfully stated, "We really liked the low taxes here, and now the EU wants to tax us to death, so we'll take our business elsewhere (literally)"

I wouldn't fault him for that one bit. In fact, I'm sure his shareholders would be pleased to hear that. Frankly, it just makes Ireland and, more specifically, the EU looks foolish for losing a major investment from the *soon to be* first trillion dollar company ever.

But alas, I'm talking about Tim Cook, the guy has a gift for making me hate anything and everything he says.

Shareholders love Tim Cook, so we pretty much like everything he says and does.