Tim Cook to Receive Award From Irish Prime Minister Celebrating 40 Years of Apple Investment

[MacRumors]

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to receive an award from the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar this month, reports Bloomberg.

Cook is scheduled to meet with the Irish Taoiseach in Dublin on January 20 to receive the award, "in recognition of the iPhone maker's 40 years of investment in Ireland," according to IDA Ireland, the country's investment agency.

Apple's business relationship with Ireland has faced significant opprobrium in recent years. In 2016, the European Commission found that the company received illegal state aid from Ireland.

Apple and Ireland both appealed the ruling, but the European Commission opened litigation against Ireland in October 2017 for its failure to procure Apple's back taxes.

Apple has already finished paying the $13 billion in back taxes it owes. If the order is eventually overturned, the money will be returned to Apple.

In 2018, Apple abandoned plans to build a $1 billion data center in Ireland after facing significant pushback from local residents concerned about its potential effects on local animals as well as arguments over its proximity to a shut-down nuclear power plant in Wales.

Apple's European headquarters are located in Cork, and last year it expanded the campus with a new building that provides space for an additional 1,400 employees.

Apple's European Job Creation page reveals that it now supports 1.7 million jobs across Europe, including around 1.5 million jobs attributable to the App Store ecosystem, some 17,000 of which are based in Ireland.

Apple's website notes that it "has been based in Cork for over 35 years and now directly employs 6,000 people throughout Ireland supporting all aspects of the business." The company also says its Irish team has "doubled in size over the last five years and includes over 80 different nationalities."

Article Link: Tim Cook to Receive Award From Irish Prime Minister Celebrating 40 Years of Apple Investment

 

[paulCC]

This is a good joke from the Irish - Apple invested in Ireland only because of the tax agreement between Apple and Ireland - Apple paid very low Irish taxes, and did not have to pay other taxes anywhere else in EU, as the business was run from Ireland.
EU was right in demanding that Apple pays full Irish taxes.

 

[Abazigal]

This is a good joke from the Irish - Apple invested in Ireland only because of the tax agreement between Apple and Ireland - Apple paid very low Irish taxes, and did not have to pay other taxes anywhere else in EU, as the business was run from Ireland.
EU was right in demanding that Apple pays full Irish taxes.

Didn’t mean that Ireland didn’t get anything beneficial out of this arrangement. In the end, it’s every man for himself, and the devil takes the hindmost.

 

[Kabeyun]

Oh Lord. Here we go. Turning off my smoke detector...

 

[-BigMac-]

HAHA more like ”40 years of tax minimization”

 

[Vasilioskn]

I invested 40 years to my Taco Bell where’s my award?

 

[I7guy]

China, Ireland, where will the good news end?

 

[smaffei]

40th Anniversary as a tax shelter!

 

[NexusUser]

Alternate Title: Ireland Gives Tim Cook Award for Using Country as a Tax Haven

 

[smaffei]

I invested 40 years to my Taco Bell where’s my award?

I'm sorry, but we can't award you a colon transplant.

 

[az431]

This is a good joke from the Irish - Apple invested in Ireland only because of the tax agreement between Apple and Ireland - Apple paid very low Irish taxes, and did not have to pay other taxes anywhere else in EU, as the business was run from Ireland.
EU was right in demanding that Apple pays full Irish taxes.

Ireland has received billions of dollars in tax revenue over the years, for products that were sold in other countries. Apple has also spent nearly a billion dollars on offices and factories in Ireland, and employs over 6,000 Irish workers.

if there is a joke here, then the joke is on you.

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HAHA more like ”40 years of tax minimization”

And you don’t try to minimize your taxes?

Please.

If the EU doesn't want companies avoiding taxes by setting up tax shelters then it should enact laws that prohibit such tax shelters. There is nothing illegal or immoral about what Ireland and Apple have done, and it is done by every corporation and individual who is required to file and pay taxes.

 

[xizdun]

Taioseach or Taoiseach?

MacRumors misspelled the word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoiseach

 

[IIGS User]

The real story here is there was a nuclear power plant in Ireland?

Wow

 

[PickUrPoison]

This is a good joke from the Irish - Apple invested in Ireland only because of the tax agreement between Apple and Ireland - Apple paid very low Irish taxes, and did not have to pay other taxes anywhere else in EU, as the business was run from Ireland.
EU was right in demanding that Apple pays full Irish taxes.

Why do you think Ireland set their tax rate so low? To attract exactly the type of investment in their country that they got from Apple. Apple’s investment goes back 40 years, long before the creation of the EU, fyi.

The tax dispute appeal may or may not be resolved in Apple’s favor. Both Ireland and Apple disagree with the EU’s ruling; time will tell.

 

[-BigMac-]

Ireland has received billions of dollars in tax revenue over the years, for products that were sold in other countries. Apple has also spent nearly a billion dollars on offices and factories in Ireland, and employs over 6,000 Irish workers.

if there is a joke, then the joke is joke is on you.
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And you don’t try to minimize your taxes?

please.

I do.

But the 40 years of investment, should be called 40 years of Tax Minimization. Nothing less, nothing more.

 

[lukejr]

The real story here is there was a nuclear power plant in Ireland?

Ha, no just poor research by the writer, there never has been a nuclear power plant anywhere on the island of Ireland.

 

[TroutDeep]

I wonder what amusing picture Tim just drew in that coloring book.

 

[lukejr]

But the 40 years of investment, should be called 40 years of Tax Minimization. Nothing less, nothing more.

6,000 staff are currently employed by Apple in Cork and when the factory first opened and up until the early 2000s computers were assembled in Cork. So it’s hardly a shell company, but a 12.5% corporation tax helps.
Irish RTE News Report from 1980

Like any other non-EU international business you need a local location to sell into the local EU market, Ireland has become very successful at being that location for US multinationals. Their corporate tax rate definitely helps, but so does speaking English and having an economic model that more closely follows the USA than any other European country.

 

[mathiasec]

Why do you think Ireland set their tax rate so low? To attract exactly the type of investment in their country that they got from Apple.

And to be fair, it’s the only way Ireland can attract companies. At least they’re investing the tax income in a good health care system, roads and infrastructure, clean streets, and good living conditions (just kidding. There’s none of that here).

 

[timmyh]

Taioseach or Taoiseach?

MacRumors misspelled the word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoiseach

Thanks - corrected!

 

[podlasek]

HAHA more like ”40 years of tax minimization”

Lower tax percentage for Apple, higher tax revenue for Ireland, Win-Win
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Tim does seem to be all about the press and photo-ops, doesn't he?

 

[PickUrPoison]

And to be fair, it’s the only way Ireland can attract companies. At least they’re investing the tax income in a good health care system, roads and infrastructure, clean streets, and good living conditions (just kidding. There’s none of that here).

But how much worse would it be without the billions that Apple and other multinational corporations contribute to Ireland’s economy?

 

[Glockworkorange]

This is a good joke from the Irish - Apple invested in Ireland only because of the tax agreement between Apple and Ireland - Apple paid very low Irish taxes, and did not have to pay other taxes anywhere else in EU, as the business was run from Ireland.
EU was right in demanding that Apple pays full Irish taxes.

I just don't understand the bloodlust of some folks to levy taxes on people, except maybe themselves, of course.

Perhaps you'll get a letter from the IRS (or whoever you pay taxes too) telling you that you didn't pay enough despite your good faith reliance on known laws and statutes. Further, perhaps they will ask that you reach in your pocket and pay a bunch more.

If that were to happen, I am going to assume you will be more than happy and in fact thrilled to bow down and pay additional $$$$$$$

Finally, this thread should really be flagged for PRSI given the tax issue.

 

[namenotfound]

Yet not one Apple store. And now no manufacturing either. So the investment is basically offices for their financial workers?

 

[icloudUser]

And yet Tim wont set up an Apple store in the Republic!