Brussels needs to go back to the drawing board in its crackdown on multinational tax avoidance
the landmark 2016 decision by EU competition czar Margrethe Vestager that Ireland should claw back €13 billion in unpaid taxes plus interest from Apple.The Apple decision was the keystone — partly because of the eye-watering sums involved — of an EU campaign to crack down on tax avoidance and stop countries offering sweetheart deals to multinationals.
Vestager's decision in 2016 argued that, by not taxing the bulk of Apple’s global profits which were funneled through Ireland, Dublin was effectively granting an illegal subsidy to the iPhone maker. That subsidy could then be tackled by using the EU's rules on state aid. “The Apple judgment is part of a wider trend in EU judicial review that is particularly visible in recent state aid cases,” said Alfonso Lamadrid, a competition lawyer at the firm Garrigues. “The courts are inclined to endorse the Commission’s approach on points of principle, but they are demanding that the Commission does a more thorough job in its assessment of all the relevant circumstances when it bears the burden of proof.
"The judgment strikes at the heart of the Commission’s reasoning regarding the allocation of income generated by intellectual property," said François-Charles Laprévote, a state aid lawyer at the firm Cleary Gottlieb."This case was not about how much tax we pay, but where we are required to pay it," a spokesperson said, adding that Apple paid more than $100 billion in corporate income taxes around the world in the last decade.
“Apple was the biggest state aid case ever. The General Court ruling is in line with several recent annulments involving Starbucks and a Belgian tax scheme and shows that state aid is probably not the way to go towards fiscal harmonization,” she said.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Blow for EU as Apple wins fight against $15 billion tax orderApple scored a major win on Wednesday as Europe's second-highest court rejected an EU order for the iPhone maker to pay 13 billion euros ($15 billion) in Irish back taxes, dealing a blow to the bloc's attempts to crack down on sweetheart tax deals.
Weiterlesen »
Apple wins tax battle with EU as court annuls 2016 order to pay $15 billion in taxesThe EU's general court decided that the European Commission failed to prove that the Irish government had given the U.S. tech giant a tax advantage.
Weiterlesen »
Apple wins appeal against $15 billion EU tax billApple has won its appeal against a European Commission ruling that it owed Ireland $14.9 billion in taxes
Weiterlesen »
Apple wins backing of EU court over 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes
Weiterlesen »
Apple Wins Appeal Against EU Order To Pay Back $15B In Taxes To IrelandApple has clinched a landmark victory in its battle with the Europan Commission over a $13B ($15B) unpaid tax bill in Ireland. The European General Court today annulled a European Commission ruling…
Weiterlesen »
Apple wins fight against $15 billion EU tax orderEurope's second-highest court on Wednesday rejected an EU order for Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($15 billion) in Irish back taxes, dealing a blow to the bloc's attempts to crack down on sweetheart tax deals.
Weiterlesen »