Reports from the world’s financial press point to the EU having taken the stance that the Irish government’s sweetheart deal for Apple has categorically breached the EU’s rules on state aid and is illegal. This follows a two year probe into Apple’s tax arrangements which were carried out by the EU’s anti-trust agency which maintains that the special arrangements extended to Apple amount to state aid for the corporate giant. What this effectively means is that Ireland has paid Amazon to create and maintain a mere 5000 jobs, at the expense of its other tax payers, whilst also receiving heavy subsidies from the EU.
The Irish government is now being pressed by the EU to issue a demand to Apple for the tax it says the corporation should have paid on its earnings which have been channelled through Ireland. The amount conjectured could be as much as $13 billion. Nothing appears to have been published yet in respect of the Irish government being pressed to repay some of the subsidies it has received from the EU from the monies it extracts from Apple, though that will surely come.
Both the Irish government and Apple have issued statements saying they will defend themselves vigorously against the EU’s stance. The US government has also had its hackles raised and are suggestions that it may try to invoke the tax law that allows retaliatory double taxation. Meanwhile, EU officials are considering whether Amazon and McDonald’s have also avoided tax.
Some are suggesting that this EU action offers the UK an excellent opportunity to lure more overseas corporations to establish operations here and that this could a major benefit to come from the Brexit vote.
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