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Except they don't pay 12.5%. Apple paid 0.005% in 2014. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiaries-paid-a-0005-percent-tax-rate-in-2014.htm

by JanSt 9y ago

Except they don't pay 12.5%. Apple paid 0.005% in 2014. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiaries-paid-a-0005-percent-tax-rate-in-2014.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiarie... "When you hear a claim along the lines of "Apple only pays 2% on its revenues in Ireland", it's because the vast majority of the profit is taxable in the US not in Ireland" No, this is not the reason. They pay an incredible low tax rate for all EU profit because of special illegal deals.

derriz 9y ago
That’s not a fair comparison. You don’t pay corporate tax based on a percentage of turnover so your rate has nothing to do with corporate tax rates. They pay Irish corporate tax on profits generated by their operations in Ireland which are understandably a tiny fraction of their sales in Europe. The rest is taxable in the US and in fact Apple have recently started repatriating foreign profits to the US and are paying US corporate tax on them.
- JanSt 9y ago
  No, you don't understand the system at all First, they shift all profit to Ireland as "licensing costs" for intellectual property. Next: "Ordinarily, those profits would be taxed in Ireland at the relatively low rate of 12.5 percent but — thanks to an agreement between Apple and Ireland — the vast majority of profits in Ireland were attributed to a "head office" not located in any country and therefore not subject to taxes in Ireland or anywhere." https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiaries-paid-a-0005-percent-tax-rate-in-2014.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiarie...
  - derriz 9y ago
    You’re contradicting yourself - they cannot simultaneously shift all profits to Ireland and to a non-Irish head office. They split the profits on their international sales channeled through Ireland between both. The non-Irish profits are taxable by the US which is why the US government is fighting the EU over this as they rightly (in my opinion) see it as a money grab.
    - MagnumOpus 9y ago
      No he is not contradicting himself, and yes they can do both of those and spirit away the entirety of their EU profits into a caribbean island with minimal taxation. Read up on the double irish dutch sandwich tax strategy.
      - derriz 9y ago
        You’re implying that by moving international profits to a Caribbean country means Apple has avoided corporate tax? Like laundering money? This is not the case - they park their international profits in the Caribbean because US tax code allows them to keep profits offshore and only pay tax when they bring the profits onshore. If Ireland was facilitating corporate tax avoidance by an American country, why is the US supporting Ireland in the Apple case in the ECJ? Does this not suggest that there is more complexity to this situations than the hyperbolic headlines?

by JanSt 9y ago

derriz 9y ago

That’s not a fair comparison. You don’t pay corporate tax based on a percentage of turnover so your rate has nothing to do with corporate tax rates. They pay Irish corporate tax on profits generated by their operations in Ireland which are understandably a tiny fraction of their sales in Europe. The rest is taxable in the US and in fact Apple have recently started repatriating foreign profits to the US and are paying US corporate tax on them.

JanSt 9y ago
No, you don't understand the system at all First, they shift all profit to Ireland as "licensing costs" for intellectual property. Next: "Ordinarily, those profits would be taxed in Ireland at the relatively low rate of 12.5 percent but — thanks to an agreement between Apple and Ireland — the vast majority of profits in Ireland were attributed to a "head office" not located in any country and therefore not subject to taxes in Ireland or anywhere." https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiaries-paid-a-0005-percent-tax-rate-in-2014.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiarie...
- derriz 9y ago
  You’re contradicting yourself - they cannot simultaneously shift all profits to Ireland and to a non-Irish head office. They split the profits on their international sales channeled through Ireland between both. The non-Irish profits are taxable by the US which is why the US government is fighting the EU over this as they rightly (in my opinion) see it as a money grab.
  - MagnumOpus 9y ago
    No he is not contradicting himself, and yes they can do both of those and spirit away the entirety of their EU profits into a caribbean island with minimal taxation. Read up on the double irish dutch sandwich tax strategy.
    - derriz 9y ago
      You’re implying that by moving international profits to a Caribbean country means Apple has avoided corporate tax? Like laundering money? This is not the case - they park their international profits in the Caribbean because US tax code allows them to keep profits offshore and only pay tax when they bring the profits onshore. If Ireland was facilitating corporate tax avoidance by an American country, why is the US supporting Ireland in the Apple case in the ECJ? Does this not suggest that there is more complexity to this situations than the hyperbolic headlines?