A serious amont of gibberish being posted here today.
The EU are not going after Irelandās 12.5% tax rate (at least not yet). The EU are not going after Appleās corporate tax structure which funnels international tax revenue through Ireland to avail of the 12.5% tax rate (there is nothing illegal about this, itās related to where IP is located).
The EU is going after Appleās sweetheart deal with the Irish government, which dates back to 1991, and has been updated several time since. Under this agreement, the great majoroty of profit generated by Appleās Irish subsidiaries (on International revenue) is funnelled to an Irish based āhead officeā which has no employees and pays tax nowhere. This is illegal under EU law as it confers a competitive advantage to Apple. The estimated $14.5B in owed taxes is owed to the Irish government. As an aside, although Apple are the poster child and the trailblazers in tax avoidance, all multinationals are essentially doing the same thing.
The EU is on very solid legal ground here imo. The US Treasury is whining, but the exact same issues were raised in congress over a year ago, and they have done nothing, so the EU has beaten them to the punch.
Having said all that, this will drag on for years.
Noonan: āThere is a tendency to claim Apple doesnāt pay enough tax. Our point is, if they owe it, they may owe it elsewhere, but not to usā
The Kaiser telling everyone else we donāt want the money and they are welcome to come after it. Incredible.
Someone needs to tell him it was the UK that voted to exit the EU, not Ireland.
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And that is the worry. UK could drop corpo tax to whatever they want.
They wonāt be able to match our 0.05%.
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Noonan making a show of himself on Bloomberg at the moment.
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Thatās Minister Noonan to you.
The U.K. are currently licking their lips at the prospect of Apple moving their European HQ to the U.K.
Wonāt have to worry about silly left wing EU bureaucrats.
Apple need an EU HQ
uK outside of EU wonāt satisfy that
This is a power grab by Commission. Are they saying that Apple generated 13bn of profits in Ireland. And then saying those profits were not generated in Ireland at all. Arguing state aid rules to bring tax policy and law into their remit.
A masterclass in speaking without saying anything. A good 5 minutes of q&a and Iām none the wiser as to what the story is 
Of all the politicians we have at least he has a comprehension of his portfolio. Can you imagine Kenny giving that interview?
No, they are saying Appleās Irish subsidaries generated well over 100B of profit in Ireland (the 14.5B estimate is the tax they are saying should have been paid to the Irish govt on this profit), and through Appleās deal with the Irish government essentially no tax was paid to anyone. The EU have essentially determined that the sweetheart deals the Irish government have done with MNCs are illegal under existing EU law.
It was an embarrassing interview. Itās obvious heās in Appleās pocket and he was too incompetent to try and argue any differently. The presenters were totally dumbfounded when he started waffling on about the 2011 general election when they asked him why he simply doesnāt accept the ruling.
He came across as a pathetic individual.
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Under Irish tax law no tax was due. It is encroaching into tax law which is outside jurisdiction of EU as countries are free to determine their tax laws. Eu is trying to determine what Irish tax laws should tax.
What if itās in the common trade area, or whatever itās called.
In any case, itās the 1000 + other companies under investigation which may have more bearing on things as they stand.
Sterling up again today, whether related not.
More boe qe on the way I suspect.
Itās what he is. Their stance has no legitimacy on any level, not even a pragmatic one. Itās pure sleeveen politics, and nobody would be shouting louder about it than FG if FF were the ones in the hot seat.
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apple are in cork since 1980. It would take them a long time and cost a fortune to relocate the jobs. And whilst they are decent payers its not spectacular by any means so its not a particulalry high cost location for many of the jobs.
Lads when are the banks going to start giving out 110% mortgages again ? Or at least 100% mortgages and then a low interest personal loan to go with it ?
Wonāt be in EU. Free movement of labor big reason us companies go to Eu
The Apple decision is part of a bigger US - EU fight over taxes.
It is a political decision and will draw a response from US.
The EU are great for the we are all in this together when it suits Germany et al. But you can go shit in your hat when you are in trouble, youāre on your own.
Revenue made in say Germany can be taxed in Germany if they are so worried about it. If the Germans wanted they could close that loophole in the morning. They wonāt though as that would make them unattractive versus other countries, so they whinge at us instead. They know the only way to sort it is to harmonize corporate tax rates, but thereās better chance of a complete breakup of the EU than that happening.
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