It is said the police whip is friendlier than that of the Fulani Soldier. It is arguable that if you get whipped by a Fulani soldier’s koboko, you will hear goats speaking queens English in their bleats.
This Fulani koboko is surely what Apple got as the European Commission has issued orders to Ireland to mop about €13 billion (which is an equivalent of $14.5 billion) from Apple. This heavy fine is in addition to interests. The ruling of the European Commission is that the tech giant had been on the receiving end of illicit tax benefits from the Irish government. The decision brings a closure to one of the investigations ongoing as to culpable tax deals which have been perpetuated by US multinational companies all across Europe.
The announcement was made public via a press release. The European Union’s antitrust regulator had remarked that Apple’s two tax negotiations with the Irish government “substantially and artificially lowered” the tax which Apple has been paying to Ireland as far back 1991. The 1991 rulings gave permission to Apple to make declaration of profits made by two Irish subsidiaries — Apple Sales International. In the ruling made public today, the European Commission remarked that the profits published by these companies “did not correspond to economic reality,” and that Ireland’s tax deal was outside the law owing to the fact it gave Apple “a very notable advantage as compared against other businesses that are subject to the same national taxation rules.”
“an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent”
“Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, head of EC competition policy, remarked via in a statement. “The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.”
Apple had revealed it will launch an appeal proceedings against the ruling. “The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process,” the company said. “The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money. It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe. Apple follows the law and pays all of the taxes we owe wherever we operate. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned.”
