Apple and Irish government collared over tax deal
Discussion
ReallyReallyGood said:
From http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en...
Well - I wonder if Apple will now move from Ireland freeing up 5,500 direct enployed roles and the benefit that gives the economy. Press Release said:
In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.
Wow.London424 said:
But isn't that a decision for the Govt to make? They may have wanted to kudos of having Apple there. Plus all the tax they pay the workforce.
No, it isn't. One of the rules of being part of the EU is that you can't 'cheat' by giving businesses unfair state aid. You would probably argue it's exactly this kind of deal the rules were designed to prevent.PurpleMoonlight said:
Hosenbugler said:
The democratically elected Irish Governmnent sets the tax rates in its jurisdiction, it helps to attract busineses to Ireland. Apple alone employ approx 5500 people in Cork. Perhaps the electorate may take umbrage at people beyond their control effectively over ruling their own goverment, being as its those people beyond their control which will benefit from the Apple tax grab, plus of course, effectively putting thousands of jobs at risk and making Ireland a less attractive place to invest.
Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank f
k we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!
Really?Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank f
k we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!I thought Ireland granted Apple a unique corporation tax rate that was not their legislated corporate rate.
Doesn't seem fair on all other businesses operating in Ireland or the rest of the EU.
Hosenbugler said:
PurpleMoonlight said:
Hosenbugler said:
The democratically elected Irish Governmnent sets the tax rates in its jurisdiction, it helps to attract busineses to Ireland. Apple alone employ approx 5500 people in Cork. Perhaps the electorate may take umbrage at people beyond their control effectively over ruling their own goverment, being as its those people beyond their control which will benefit from the Apple tax grab, plus of course, effectively putting thousands of jobs at risk and making Ireland a less attractive place to invest.
Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank fk we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!
Really?Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank f
k we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!I thought Ireland granted Apple a unique corporation tax rate that was not their legislated corporate rate.
Doesn't seem fair on all other businesses operating in Ireland or the rest of the EU.
Ireland has massively benefitted from EU membership, much more than they ever did from British rule, that's for sure
Hugo a Gogo said:
PurpleMoonlight said:
Hosenbugler said:
The democratically elected Irish Governmnent sets the tax rates in its jurisdiction, it helps to attract busineses to Ireland. Apple alone employ approx 5500 people in Cork. Perhaps the electorate may take umbrage at people beyond their control effectively over ruling their own goverment, being as its those people beyond their control which will benefit from the Apple tax grab, plus of course, effectively putting thousands of jobs at risk and making Ireland a less attractive place to invest.
Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank fk we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!
Really?Who rules Irealand, their own democratically elected and accountable politicians or a bunch of faceless unnacountable EU drones?
Thank f
k we are getting out of it. Ireland, do come and join us!I thought Ireland granted Apple a unique corporation tax rate that was not their legislated corporate rate.
Doesn't seem fair on all other businesses operating in Ireland.
who rules Ireland, the people or the faceless unaccountable bankers and businessmen?
Welshbeef said:
Well - I wonder if Apple will now move from Ireland freeing up 5,500 direct enployed roles and the benefit that gives the economy.
Possibly, but probably not: it changed it's Irish structure to close down the practices that the EU has found it / Ireland guilty of. That was in 2015Hosenbugler said:
Bribes, eh? Please provide proof, or is that just a baseless allegation prompted by those green eyes of yours? Actually, a democratically elected Govt rules Ireland and sets tax laws in its interest, not the unelected EU commisars.
I said probably no bribeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Irelan...
It seems odd that people's dislike of the EU would see them support a deal that allows Apple, possibly the most cash-rich company in the world, avoid the same corporation tax rules as almost everybody else in Ireland.
Had Ireland stuck by the rules, it may have been that Apple instead located their office in another EU country, such as the UK. One has to assume our adherence to the rules meant we were overlooked in favour of someone happy to deviate.
If the UK was outside of the EU, but still lost out to Ireland, simply because they offered Apple a deal in breach of EU rules, I bet a few pennies that the very same people criticising the EU for enforcing the rules now would instead be criticising them for turning a blind eye.
Had Ireland stuck by the rules, it may have been that Apple instead located their office in another EU country, such as the UK. One has to assume our adherence to the rules meant we were overlooked in favour of someone happy to deviate.
If the UK was outside of the EU, but still lost out to Ireland, simply because they offered Apple a deal in breach of EU rules, I bet a few pennies that the very same people criticising the EU for enforcing the rules now would instead be criticising them for turning a blind eye.
janesmith1950 said:
London424 said:
But isn't that a decision for the Govt to make? They may have wanted to kudos of having Apple there. Plus all the tax they pay the workforce.
No, it isn't. One of the rules of being part of the EU is that you can't 'cheat' by giving businesses unfair state aid. You would probably argue it's exactly this kind of deal the rules were designed to prevent.It's the whole point of the Brexit discussions. If our government wants to do a deal, or set a certain tax rate, or even god forbid, support a struggling industry that should be up to them.
Will be interesting to see the reaction of Ireland to this.
janesmith1950 said:
It seems odd that people's dislike of the EU would see them support a deal that allows Apple, possibly the most cash-rich company in the world, avoid the same corporation tax rules as almost everybody else in Ireland.
Had Ireland stuck by the rules, it may have been that Apple instead located their office in another EU country, such as the UK. One has to assume our adherence to the rules meant we were overlooked in favour of someone happy to deviate.
If the UK was outside of the EU, but still lost out to Ireland, simply because they offered Apple a deal in breach of EU rules, I bet a few pennies that the very same people criticising the EU for enforcing the rules now would instead be criticising them for turning a blind eye.
Quite. Had Ireland stuck by the rules, it may have been that Apple instead located their office in another EU country, such as the UK. One has to assume our adherence to the rules meant we were overlooked in favour of someone happy to deviate.
If the UK was outside of the EU, but still lost out to Ireland, simply because they offered Apple a deal in breach of EU rules, I bet a few pennies that the very same people criticising the EU for enforcing the rules now would instead be criticising them for turning a blind eye.
Had the British govt set CT at (say) 20%, then done a deal with Apple such that it paid less than 1% CT, I would have thought the British Courts would have overturned such a deal. The fact that it's been done by the EU for Ireland says a bit more about the Irish courts and govt than the EU, to my mind.
But if one really hates the EU, then inevitably it will be the scapegoat in this particular story. Odd.
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