Two days after the Financial Times reported that the European Commission was about to come down hard on Apple’s alleged deal with the Irish government to reduce its tax liabilities, Apple has made a statement to Business Insider claiming that it has received “no selective treatment.”
Apple is proud of its long history in Ireland and the 4,000 people we employ in Cork. They serve our customers through manufacturing, tech support and other important functions. Our success in Europe and around the world is the result of hard work and innovation by our employees, not any special arrangements with the government. Apple has received no selective treatment from Irish officials over the years. We’re subject to the same tax laws as the countless other companies who do business in Ireland.
Since the iPhone launched in 2007, our tax payments in Ireland and around the world have increased tenfold. To continue that growth and the benefits it brings to the communities where we work and live, we believe comprehensive corporate tax reform is badly needed …
Although the statement sounds definitive, it may be that it is carefully worded, simply meaning that any other very large corporation offering jobs and tax revenue to Ireland in return for favorable tax treatment would have been able to negotiate the same deals.
Business Insider says that Apple first reached an agreement with Steve Jobs in the late 1980s.
The tax agreement was struck between Dublin and Apple founder Steve Jobs in the late 1980s. It was implemented sometime around 1991. The EC is looking at a 10-year period between 2004 and 2014.
The European Commission today announced that it had reached the “preliminary view” that these deals amounted to state aid, reports the WSJ. However, Adam Smith Institute Fellow Tim Worstall, writing in Forbes, argues that even if this view is substantiated in the final report, it is the Irish government, rather than Apple, which would be in the firing-line.
There is no possibility of a fine upon Apple whatsoever. For in cases of illegal state aid there never is a fine levied upon the company or recipient of such aid. The government that allowed or paid out the aid must recover it, that’s true, but there’s no fines over and above that even if there’s a finding of said illegal aid.
In other words, the Irish government would have to ask Apple to repay the tax it would have owed without the deal (likely to amount to around $8B), but Apple would, in law, have done nothing wrong.
The reason Apple has such a significant corporate presence in Ireland is to allow it to take advantage of what is known as transfer pricing. What Apple Ireland does, says Worstall, is to buy a licence from Apple in Cupertino, allowing it to manufacture and sell iPhones in the UK. Apple Ireland buys all the components, pays the manufacturing costs and ships the phones to the UK to be sold both through Apple Stores and third-party resellers, aka the carriers.
Because Apple Ireland charges close to retail prices for the phones it sells to UK outlets, most of the profits are made in Ireland, and those profits are taxed at the rates allegedly agreed with the Irish government: around two percent. While the morality of this may be debatable, it is, says Worstall, perfectly legal.
This is not illegal and is not state aid. Nor does the Commission say that it is.
Apple’s position appears to be that while its tax avoidance strategies are legal, it will continue to use them, and if governments feel such arrangements are wrong, it is their responsibility to outlaw them. The Irish government seems content that a small percentage of a lot of money is worth having, and is keeping its head down. The question will be whether the EU can overturn the arrangements. It’s going to be an interesting battle to watch.
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Ireland wanted the Jobs (pun intended), extended the offer and Jobs accepted. How would Apple be on the hook for doing something illegal? If the offer is made – take it. That’s the way of Capitalism.
I’m Irish and can tell you we need the jobs, not only from Apple, but also Google, PayPal etc etc etc. I would love nothing more than to take this opportunity to tell the EU where to go. I for one am sick of their interfering and dictating and can tell you that there is massive resentment towards the EU growing steadily in this country. As long as Apple etc are paying people a decent wage then I’m all for whatever tax breaks they can get.
You realize those tax breaks are a form of corporate welfare, right?
Now I get that countries and other regional entities essentially bid on companies locating there, but there are many cases where the only benefit was to the politicos who made the deal and the taxpayer gets screwed.
Please consider that with no EU Ireland would have no way of serving as a European tax hub: Tech firms would no longer be allowed to pay all their european taxes in a single state (which by the way makes no sense at all, as Europe is not a federal state like the US, where the central government redistributes tax revenue to single states), and Ireland would only be left with taxes collected on the tiny profits Apple actually makes in the country alone. With so little left, the Irish government would have to decide whether to increase the corporate tax rate to make up for the much lower taxable income, or accept to lose the money it desperately needs. I can tell you that Germany, France, Spain, Italy (where I come from) and the other European countries are fed up with a flawed, incomplete system which allows firms to make profit in one place (a wealthy one) and pay taxes in another (the cheapest), because this leaves countries with unfair budget deficits. It’s a bit like buying a Porsche and paying FIAT instead, because it’s cheaper. What Apple is doing is 100% legal according to the current legal frame, which is the only one that matter. The Commission is desperately trying to address what has now become a critical issue, and competition law is the only tool it can presently use (it is its most powerful, and in a way the Irish policy can be seen as a form of unfair competition between states), but the article explains the status quo very well. The legal frame will have to change in the future, as it is financially unsustainable, but if there are any costs, the burden will fall on the interested countries, not on the firms.
Finally good summary. It is unbelievable how many people do not understand basic financial/tax issues. It is definitely legal, it fill follow domestic law (EU) and as well IFRS standards. Nations just want more money from taxes, and are targeting suddenly highly profitable, successful company to slap them and take some of their money
Tax, tax, tax, yadda, yadda, yadda — the real question is why there are no Apple stores at all in Ireland…
That’s a pretty easy answer… Their economy sucks.
I wait for Luxembourg’s turn! Apple iTunes, Google, Amazon, Ebay and many thousand other companies are all using the same laws to pay nearly no taxes here. If the Irish government settles with the EU, Luxembourg will have to do the same. Oh boy, this will kill us and our high wages.
“The tax agreement was struck between Dublin and Apple founder Steve Jobs in the late 1980s”
Steve Jobs wasn’t at Apple in the late 80s.