5 ms·

The people of Ireland have democracy, perhaps they have different views on taxation than you do. It may come as a surprise to you but some people aren't so gre

• kunimu 9y ago
  "some people aren't so greedy as to believe that they are entitled to the fruits of other's labour." There is a distinct and strong sense of unaware irony in this comment.
• the_mitsuhiko 9y ago
  Most Irish citizens had no idea about the extend of this.
  • barrkel 9y ago
    I think most Irish people are aware that the primary appeal of the country to multinationals is as a tax-efficient English-speaking common law bridge into the EU, in approximately that order. The specific amounts flowing across the bridge, no, I don't think people are generally aware of the numbers. But because it is a bridge, we Irish don't really have a strong claim on that money: the revenue was generated somewhere else, and it's going somewhere else, it's just resting in Ireland for a while. There's a bunch of hypocritical talk from other EU countries criticising Irish tax rates, all the while having lots of carveouts and tax breaks of their own that reduce supposedly high rates to nearly nothing in various deals. For example, France has an effective rate of about 8% on profits for companies in the the CAC40. Luxembourg is much worse, it's practically a tax haven that avoids being listed as such somehow, probably down to location. In principle I'm in favour of something like the common consolidated corporate tax base. The problem with taxing multinationals comes down to game theory: if there's a common market between countries, there's a race to the bottom in tax rates for hosting multinationals. So there needs to be a pact.
  • fleitz 9y ago
    So what you're saying is their corporate tax law wasn't enough of a concern to them to actually read it?
    • the_mitsuhiko 9y ago
      This was not a law but a secret bespoke areangement.
      • fleitz 9y ago
        That seems unsupported by the article, in 2015 Ireland changed its laws, Apple consulted a law firm on advice on how to proceed and sought assurances from the govts involved that it's understanding of the law was correct. Where is this agreement you speak of?
        • Oletros 9y ago
          The case against Apple is not about Double Irish, is about a secret agreement with Irish Government on how to account the revenue in Ireland
        • lovich 9y ago
          This is a little off topic but the question will help me parse your posts better. Is there any situation you can imagine where Apple, or any corporation, could have done anything wrong when it comes to how it pays taxes?
          • fleitz 9y ago
            Of course there is, this is what tax evasion is about. There's a decent case to be made that the Apple and Ireland were wrong in Apple following Ireland's tax code, we'll see how the case turns out on appeal. I would say that when the sovereign is in agreement the payment of taxes that it can't be construed as evasion, however, I'm not super well versed on how much of a sovereign Ireland really is given it's membership in the EU. Perhaps the EU is the real sovereign in this case and Apple has erred in consulting with the Irish government who lacks authority to set tax policy in its territory.