Apple has been fined €13 bn by the European Union for “illegal” tax breaks. But what is the real cost to the tech giant? And what is the ethical fallout of a case that has divided the public and private sectors?
3 thoughts on “PODCAST | The True Cost of Apple’s €13b Fine”
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The Exact Cost of That kind of giant company cannot be calculated perfectly,only the predictions are being there, ypu cannot callculate the whole net worth of the company.
Tax heavens exist, thanks God!, because there are tax hells, like most EU countries are. Instead of preserving and promoting fiscal competition, which is a good way of promoting fiscal prudence in any given country, the proposal here is to create a fiscal police super-entity, like the ones the EU love most, and give this super-entity the information and power to monitor the business of any company. Sadly, it is simply the confirmation that in Europe most are looking for ways to reduce freedom of enterprise that, sooner or later, will reduce freedom itself. Very sad future times ahead for Europe.
What the EU is seeking to do is stop the freedom to choose where to pay tax regardless of where the money is actually generated. That does not restrict freedom of enterprise: it ensures that companies contribute to the societies in which they make money. A company is perfectly within its rights not to trade in a country if it considers the tax burden to be too high. What cannot be permissible is cherry picking tax jurisdictions, especially within the Single Market.
The current regime does not lead to fiscal prudence, but rather a race to the bottom in rates of taxation for multinationals that effectively gives them an unfair advantage (which, given their economies of scale, they certainly do not need) over smaller, domestic businesses who have to pay the usual rates.
Should only individuals be responsible for taxes? If so, we’d better start ramping up the rates on the highest earners or there’ll be gargantuan shortfalls as more multinationals find ways to avoid their responsibilities.