US Nobbled In Bid To Help Tax Avoider Apple

The U.S. Government has been stopped from going into bat for Apple who for decades in Australia stripped profits out of Australia.

What the US wanted to do was to help Apple in their tax fight against the European Union’s order to pay Ireland record 13 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in unpaid taxes.

Ireland is the location where Apple Australia channelled their billions to avoid paying taxes in Australia.

The EU’s highest court rejected the U.S. request after a lower court in December also dismissed the request, saying the American government failed to show it had a direct interest in the result of the state-aid case.

The U.S. government argued it does have a vested interest in Apple’s EU tax struggles, as the company could potentially claim tax credits for paying money in Ireland. The Treasury has even claimed that the EU is making itself a “supra-national tax authority.”

The EU however has said that Ireland extended preferential tax treatment to Apple for years, even reverse-engineering rules on the fly to make the company happy. Under the Union’s laws, benefits offered to one company must be available to others — otherwise, it can constitute illegal state aid.

Apple has funnelled large sums of Australian revenue through Ireland, using loopholes to pay minimal taxes. According to the Commission, Apple paid 1 percent on profits in 2003, and as little as 0.005 percent in 2014.

The EU has also ordered Luxembourg to recover 250 million euros over its fiscal arrangements for Amazon.

About Post Author

David Richards

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.