Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13B to Apple

Re:Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up ... by zigzigzag on Tuesday August 30, 2016 @06:57AM (#12388917)

But low tax rates are not "state aid", "aid" is an English word meaning giving something to somebody. "Tax" means the opposite: taking it away.

The EU Commission is now engaged in a rather grotesque power grab in which despite having no mandate to interfere with member tax policies they are attempting to gain control anyway, without treaty change, by redefining low tax rates as a kind of subsidy.

There is no real precedent for this kind of legal abuse - to claim Apple should have anticipated it is absurd.

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Re:Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up ... by vesinisa on Tuesday August 30, 2016 @07:24AM (#12389039)

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/ha...

EU has held for almost two decades that "an effective level of taxation which is significantly lower than the general level of taxation in the country concerned" constitutes "harmful tax competition". The most logical way to undo such unfair benefit is to rule the company to return the unfair benefit it gained with interest. I don't see anything but a welcome measure to level the field for competition.

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Re:Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up ... by icebraining on Tuesday August 30, 2016 @07:22AM (#12389025)

But low tax rates are not "state aid", "aid" is an English word meaning giving something to somebody. "Tax" means the opposite: taking it away.

The rose by any other name is still as illegal. Semantic arguments don't help you when the definition is provided.

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Re:Commission says Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up ... by edwinjm on Tuesday August 30, 2016 @07:17AM (#12388998)

You're only talking semantics now. The net effect of normal taxes minus subsidy is the same as lower taxes. Draw your conclusions.

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