Apple-BondsThe European Commission is poised to hand down an adverse ruling against Apple next week following a three-year inquiry into the company's tax arrangements in Ireland, according to Financial Times.

Expectation of an adverse ruling gathered pace this week after the US Treasury issued a stinging attack on the commission’s investigation, saying the EU executive was becoming a “supranational tax authority” that threatened international agreements on tax reform.

The Brussels-based body, led by competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, has been investigating whether Apple's alleged "sweetheart deal" with Ireland constitutes illegal state aid, which it determined based on its preliminary findings in 2014.

The commission has accused Apple of sheltering tens of billions of dollars by transferring revenue to multiple subsidiaries in Ireland, where it pays a significantly lower tax rate of around 2%, compared to the country's headline corporate tax rate of 12.5%.

An adverse ruling could result in Apple owing up to $21.2 billion in back taxes, although a previous study placed the figure around $8 billion, and some analysts believe the amount could be as low as $1 billion.

Apple is one of several large corporations accused of tax avoidance in Europe over the past three years, joining the likes of Starbucks, Fiat Chrysler, Amazon, Google, IKEA, and McDonald's. Starbucks in particular is currently appealing its case in Netherlands, where it was ordered to pay as much as 30 million euros in back taxes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has insisted that his company fully complies with international tax law, said last month that it would appeal any unfavorable ruling in European courts. Apple has also said it is the largest taxpayer in the world.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury department warned that an adverse ruling against Apple could "set an undesirable precedent." It also said the European Commission is becoming a "supranational tax authority," going beyond acceptable enforcement of competition and state aid law.

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.

Top Rated Comments

Cybbe Avatar
113 months ago
The EU has to be very careful about applying taxes ex post facto. That would run counter to just about all accepted law, especially if they are targeting only a handful of companies.
They are not applying any law retroactively. If Apple has received illegal state aid from Ireland the company has to pay it back. Breaking the law needs to result in consequences.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nebo1ss Avatar
113 months ago
I quite agree. It's also a bit disingenuous. The EU allowed one of its member states to strike this deal so Apple could avoid US taxes; now they turn around and say "Ireland, we want our piece too".

If they feel Ireland was wrong, they should allow Apple to go back and restate their prior-year finances according to whatever the EU seems to think is the proper reading of EU law. Or they should fine Ireland for the difference.

I'm not defending Apple here. But this seems a sleazy move by the EU to get in on the action. If anything, those Apple tax dodge savings should get repatriated to the US treasury, where they should have gone in the first place.
[doublepost=1472242493][/doublepost]


Note it's the US Treasury, which ostensibly is the entity that Apple "ripped off", that is protesting the EU action.
You have no idea what you are talking about. This is nothing to do with the US treasury being ripped off. This has everything to do with France, Germany, UK, and many other European Countries Financial authority being ripped off.

Apple books sales of its iPhones, computers software etc that is sold in these countries in Ireland. They are not the only ones doing it Amazon, Starbucks etc. are all up to the same game and they are all going to have to pay eventually. Ireland facilitates this because this brings jobs to Ireland but it is a Tax fraud pure and simple.

Apple chose to set up a structure that is dishonest and illegal. There is a separate issue that you may be confusing with this in that they do not repatriate profits to the US but keep them overseas thereby avoiding US corporate tax.

Ireland is a tiny market for Apple in Europe. The majority of their sales are in the big economies like Germany, France the UK, italy etc. By booking 100 percent of the sales in Ireland they make zero or little profit in these countries by diverting it to Ireland and paying 2 percent tax.

Apple is just greedy if they paid the correct tax due in every European country they would not have as many Billions sheltered overseas and the concerned countries would get more tax to build the roads and the hospitals and the rest of the infrastructure that the apple employees need and use every day.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MarkusL Avatar
113 months ago
Tim Cook is going to have to give his longevity bonus back! Or maybe they'll be forced to go down to 8 gigs for the base model of iPhones!
Since Apple makes all its money in Ireland they could save some expenses by closing their money-losing branch office in California.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cybbe Avatar
113 months ago
I quite agree. It's also a bit disingenuous. The EU allowed one of its member states to strike this deal so Apple could avoid US taxes; now they turn around and say "Ireland, we want our piece too".
This is simply not true. Under EU state aid rules, a member country has to notify state aid, even if legal, to the commission. You imply that Ireland has notified this particular form of state aid to the commission, and that the commission has approved it/declared it to be legal. That's simply not true. The commission has never approved Ireland illegal state aid to Apple.

I hope that the commission comes down hard on Ireland and Apple. These forms of illegal corporate handouts are utter disgraceful.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
113 months ago
This would set a dangerous precedent. Apple and all other companies do what they can to legally avoid tax.

Could you argue it's against the spirit of the law? Probably. But that doesn't stand up. Who would pay more than they have to, if it's legal at the same time?

If there's a legal tax loophole to stop paying as much, you're damn right you'd take it. Every company does and every person does. It's within the letter of the law. Apple are being targeted because they're ludicrously rich, and that's a slice of Apple pie people are happy to dig into.

Want to stop this kind of thing? Then change the tax rules for everybody, to avoid these sort of loopholes. As the old mantra goes: don't hate the player, hate the game.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Crosscreek Avatar
113 months ago
Typical multinational corporation hide and seek. Your caught.....pay up sweetheart. Can't really blame Apple....they all do it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...