What a load of corporate BS. How does it make first place on HN? "The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore I

What a load of corporate BS. How does it make first place on HN? "The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process." Please. They got caught not paying any tax in Europe. Ireland's tax laws are not ignored (EU simple asks Ireland to tax Apple according to usual Irish rules) and there is in effect no agreed upon international tax system anymore (if there ever were). "The opinion issued on August 30th alleges that Ireland gave Apple a special deal on our taxes. This claim has no basis in fact or in law. We never asked for, nor did we receive, any special deals." This is irrelevant. There was an understanding that Apple could channel all European profits through Ireland and that the Irish government wouldn't tax them on it. "We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don't owe them any more than we've already paid." First of all, it isn't retroactively. The obligation not to receive subsidies was there all the time. Second, it isn't at all unusual. Numerous companies in Europe have had to pay back subsidies, including tax subsidies, to governments that didn't want them back. "The Commission’s move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications." If by wide-reaching implications they mean that corporations can't hide behind phony company structures and will have to pay tax, then yes. "It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commission thinks the law should have been. This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters, and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe." The EU commission is proposing no such thing. It is merely calling a spade a spade. Ireland joined the EU openly, and signed the EU treaty that bans state aid. "At its root, the Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes. It is about which government collects the money." As in no government, apparently. "Taxes for multinational companies are complex, yet a fundamental principle is recognized around the world: A company’s profits should be taxed in the country where the value is created. Apple, Ireland and the United States all agree on this principle." Yes, it's complex, and much more complex than a company having to be taxed where the value is created. There is no such agreed upon fundamental principle, not even with United States, and even if there were, I would argue that most of the value is created where the products are either produced or sold, not where the R&D department happened to be located or where a company had placed its IPR.