The European Commission does not lose hope to force Apple to pay the amount, which even for such a corporation is noticeable - almost $ 16 billion. This time she appealed the court decision, according to which Apple was allowed not to pay any of this amount. The company was fully justified, however, according to the European Commission, she has all the proof that Apple was in collusion with the authorities of Ireland, which provided her attractive tax breaks. Do Apple still pressed against the wall?
Court against Apple
The EU claims that Apple has reached an illegal agreement with the Government of Ireland, which made it to save (underpaid) $ 15.8 billion in taxes. Not bad discount, agree. How did Apple manage to do? The company sent a revenue from all its sales across Europe through its own European headquarters in Ireland. Apple is probably not in vain that chose this place, because in the country at that time there was an extremely low rate of corporate taxation compared to other EU countries - only 12.5%. And the Government of Ireland additionally "swept" conditions by special agreements that allowed Apple to pay even less.In 2016, the EU recognized these agreements illegal. It was found that it was the Irish government, and not Apple violated the law, but since Apple participated in the contract, this meant Apple is obliged to pay taxes that were not charged with it by the Government of Ireland.
When Apple and the Irish government filed an appeal, it was decided that Apple will make a full amount (almost $ 16 billion) to a special account, where it will be stored before the proceedings of the trial. And in 2020 the company won the first court on this case. The court stated that the European Commission did not provide enough evidence that Apple received an economic advantage of these agreements. But the EU did not leave Apple alone and at the end of 2020 filed an appeal.
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Apple will pay a fine in court?
In its appeal, the European Commission stated that the court used "conflicting arguments" when he ruled that the Irish Apple units are not responsible for non-declared taxes. The plaintiff claims that he has irrefutable evidence that Apple did not have employees in two Irish units, and these enterprises were purely nominal organizations: almost all the profit claimed by these two companies was posted on the accounts of the head office existing as It turned out only on paper.
Now Apple will make everything pay? Most likely no. Even if Apple has created a "fictitious" company (Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe), the European Commission still need to prove that the deal between Apple and the Government of Ireland was "unique." The legislation of this country does not prohibit the creation of companies and does not regulate their activities if they do not violate the law. But from the point of view of the Apple law, everything made it competently: she used two Irish and one Dutch company to optimize their income. Due to the peculiarities of the tax legislation of the above-mentioned countries, payments between them are not subject to taxes. And it is legitimate.
Apple always adhered to the line that it follows the laws of each of the countries in which it works, but historically occupied an aggressive position regarding taxes. The company often used comprehensive measures that are legal, but at the same time are considered contradictory law, which provides for equal attitude towards all companies. Only very large transnational companies, such as Apple, can apply this tax cargo tactics. This scheme is known among financiers as "Double Irish Whiskey with Dutch Sandwich" (Double Irish Dutch Sandwich).