Court rejects US bid to intervene in Apple's appeal of EU tax ruling

The European Union's General Court has refused a U.S. government request to intervene in Apple's appeal of a 2016 European Commission ruling, which ordered Ireland to collect approximately $15.3 billion in back taxes from the company.

The U.S. moved to intervene in April, arguing that the E.U.'s actions would impact its own tax revenues, tax deals with other European countries, and attempts to forge rules on transfer pricing in keeping with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Reuters said. On Friday, though, the General Court ruled that the U.S. had "failed to establish the existence of a direct interest in the result of the case."

For similar reasons the General Court also refused an intervention attempt by IBEC Company Limited by Guarantee, a group which represents firms operating in Ireland.

For years, loopholes in Irish tax law allowed Apple to pay minimal taxes on billions in international revenue, reportedly as low as 0.005 percent in 2014. The Commission accused Ireland of offering preferential treatment, including modifying tax rules with Apple in mind — something illegal under E.U. law, which says that state aid must be offered to all companies equally.

Both Apple and the Irish government have filed appeals. The latter missed a January deadline to collect the money, which has prompted the Commission to take it to court. Funds should finally enter an escrow account in the first quarter of 2018.

The U.S. could conceivably have claimed some of that money if Apple had decided to repatriate it, but the iPhone maker has so far avoided bringing cash back without a promise of lower taxes. Changes advocated by Republicans and the Trump administration could prompt Apple to take action.

26 Comments

gatorguy 24609 comments · 13 Years

About 6 years ago

AppleInsider said:
The U.S. could conceivably have claimed some of that money if Apple had decided to repatriate it, but the iPhone maker has so far avoided bringing cash back without a promise of lower taxes. Changes advocated by Republicans and the Trump administration could prompt Apple to take action.

...and IMO if they do the EU Commission won't care.

I think Vestager is honestly convinced she right in trying what she sees as leveling the playing field, attempting to rectify what she perceives as unfair advantages some big multinationals are claiming for themselves to the detriment of smaller companies and individual consumers. She's done so with Google, and she'll do so with Apple. Personally I believe she goes too far, seeing things that just don't exist on the level she thinks they do and applying corrective fixes with too heavy a hand, but I don't think it's just about the tax money from Apple which the EU doesn't get for themselves anyway. Any recovered taxes go to the the individual countries where the tax obligation originates.

boltsfan17 2294 comments · 12 Years

About 6 years ago

gatorguy said:

AppleInsider said:
The U.S. could conceivably have claimed some of that money if Apple had decided to repatriate it, but the iPhone maker has so far avoided bringing cash back without a promise of lower taxes. Changes advocated by Republicans and the Trump administration could prompt Apple to take action.

...and IMO if they do the EU Commission won't care.

I think Vestager is honestly convinced she right in trying what she sees as leveling the playing field, attempting to rectify what she perceives as unfair advantages some big multinationals are claiming for themselves to the detriment of smaller companies and individual consumers. She's done so with Google, and she'll do so with Apple. Personally I believe she goes too far, seeing things that just don't exist on the level she thinks they do and applying corrective fixes with too heavy a hand, but I don't think it's just about the tax money from Apple which the EU doesn't get for themselves anyway. Any recovered taxes go to the the individual countries where the tax obligation originates.

The EU should care really. If Apple ends up losing in appeals, the U.S. could fire back at the EU by subjecting European companies to double taxation.

frac 480 comments · 14 Years

About 6 years ago

boltsfan17 said:

gatorguy said:

AppleInsider said:
The U.S. could conceivably have claimed some of that money if Apple had decided to repatriate it, but the iPhone maker has so far avoided bringing cash back without a promise of lower taxes. Changes advocated by Republicans and the Trump administration could prompt Apple to take action.

...and IMO if they do the EU Commission won't care.

I think Vestager is honestly convinced she right in trying what she sees as leveling the playing field, attempting to rectify what she perceives as unfair advantages some big multinationals are claiming for themselves to the detriment of smaller companies and individual consumers. She's done so with Google, and she'll do so with Apple. Personally I believe she goes too far, seeing things that just don't exist on the level she thinks they do and applying corrective fixes with too heavy a hand, but I don't think it's just about the tax money from Apple which the EU doesn't get for themselves anyway. Any recovered taxes go to the the individual countries where the tax obligation originates.

The EU should care really. If Apple ends up losing in appeals, the U.S. could fire back at the EU by subjecting European companies to double taxation.

On what legal basis could the US justify fiinge back by doubling taxation? That would amount to a trade war whereas this is about taxes paid/not payed in the region they were generated. This is not US money per se.

At the risk of repeating myself, the EU should sort out the mess that allows local taxation to be avoided via Double Dutch off shoring to one - in this case ‘lucky’ country...Eire. If taxes are due they rightly should be returned to the treasury where they were created.
That aside, the EU is definitely making an example of Apple to hammer the point home...it’s just too big a hammer which is probably all Apple can appeal.

viclauyyc 847 comments · 10 Years

About 6 years ago

frac said:

boltsfan17 said:

gatorguy said:

AppleInsider said:
The U.S. could conceivably have claimed some of that money if Apple had decided to repatriate it, but the iPhone maker has so far avoided bringing cash back without a promise of lower taxes. Changes advocated by Republicans and the Trump administration could prompt Apple to take action.

...and IMO if they do the EU Commission won't care.

I think Vestager is honestly convinced she right in trying what she sees as leveling the playing field, attempting to rectify what she perceives as unfair advantages some big multinationals are claiming for themselves to the detriment of smaller companies and individual consumers. She's done so with Google, and she'll do so with Apple. Personally I believe she goes too far, seeing things that just don't exist on the level she thinks they do and applying corrective fixes with too heavy a hand, but I don't think it's just about the tax money from Apple which the EU doesn't get for themselves anyway. Any recovered taxes go to the the individual countries where the tax obligation originates.

The EU should care really. If Apple ends up losing in appeals, the U.S. could fire back at the EU by subjecting European companies to double taxation.

On what legal basis could the US justify fiinge back by doubling taxation? That would amount to a trade war whereas this is about taxes paid/not payed in the region they were generated. This is not US money per se.

At the risk of repeating myself, the EU should sort out the mess that allows local taxation to be avoided via Double Dutch off shoring to one - in this case ‘lucky’ country...Eire. If taxes are due they rightly should be returned to the treasury where they were created.
That aside, the EU is definitely making an example of Apple to hammer the point home...it’s just too big a hammer which is probably all Apple can appeal.

Donald love trade war. This one will be fun.