Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Posted on 09/10/2016 12:53:00 PM PDT by Swordmaker
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Multinational companies should refrain from tax-avoidance practices and pay their fair share, the head of euro zone finance ministers said on Saturday in a new endorsement of the European Union's fight against tax-dodging.
In the wake of the 'Panama Papers' revelations of widespread tax-avoidance practices, Brussels has toughened up its drive for fairness by tightening controls and adopting stricter rules.
The recent shock multi-billion euro tax demand on Apple was part of that trend as the EU also drafts plans for a common corporate tax base and a single European blacklist for tax havens.
"My message to those companies is you are fighting the wrong battle. You have to move on. Times are changing," the head of the eurogroup and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters on arriving at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Bratislava.
"You need to pay your taxes in a fair way. Part of that would be in the U.S., part of that would be in Europe. So get ready to do that," Dijsselbloem added.
The Commission, which is in charge of protecting market competition in Europe, is investigating multinationals' tax arrangements in several EU countries to assess whether, by lowering corporations' tax bills, illegal state aid may have been given.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
I’m sure Tim Cook doesn’t mind paying taxes, being that he’s a Californian.
Socialism is a pyramid scheme, and the only winners are the technocrats.
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The UK is looking really good now.
Sickening parasites. Brexit has terrified them and made them desperate.
Cook has testified before the US Senate for US Tax fairness. We have the highest corporate taxes in the world and also are only one of two countries in the world that tax domestic companies on already taxed income when it is brought home. The other is a small land-locked African dictatorship which has no multinational corporations to tax. Right now the rate the US would tax such funds being brought home is 35%. There are TRILLIONS of dollars lying in accounts off shore that could be invested in the US but won't be due to this short sighted high rate tax policy. Cook pleaded with the Democrat controlled (at the time) Senate committee to either eliminate the policy or substantially reduce that tax rate so that Apple and the other corporations could bring their already taxed funds home to invest in America. It fell on deaf ears.
Since then, the Republicans have introduced such bills and they have been blocked in the Senate by the Democrats and the Cloture rule. . . and the Republicans won't force it because they say it will be vetoed by Obama.
You'd think that would make them back off on such shenanigans. Instead, they are doubling down.
Governments let corporations get away with things.
Once the stock reaches a peak and capital gains taxes have been paid, then the governments enforce their laws properly.
We live in a very dishonest era.
Pay your taxes?
They did.
Now you want “retro-taxes. “
.
"Save as otherwise provided in this Treaty" means that section 87 is completely voided by a lower numbered Article, the one on Autonomy on Taxation. Sorry, but the order of articles holds priority in such Treaties. . . and 87 is far down the list from the Autonomy of Taxation and Regulation of Taxes. It's a pretty minor clause in the overall Treaty compared to the major points.
“There are TRILLIONS of dollars lying in accounts off shore that could be invested in the US”
Apple could hire every good programmer in the USA with its domestic profits alone.
Apple is only short of investment ideas.
US corporations are not short of capital. They have more than they need.
We need corporations to pay taxes. What corporations don’t pay, natural persons must.
“Save as otherwise provided in this Treaty”
Nothing that applies in Apple’s case.
". . . more than they need."???
Bernie Sanders, is that you?
Perhaps, you are Karl Marx? "From each according to their ability, to each according to the need?" Who are YOU to determine corporation's need for capital?
Are you sure you are on the right site?
Apple pays taxes. It's US Effective Income Tax Rate for 2015 was 27.6%. In 2012, Apple was the largest payer of taxes among all business in the United States, paying $1 out of every $40 the IRS collected from businesses. In the past five years Apple has been in the top three business tax payers in the US.
I am educated as an Economist. It is a fact that businesses DO NOT PAY TAXES, no matter what the rate on their income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, or any other tax you may levy on them, Brian. Every tax paid by any business or corporation is paid by natural persons. "Why? How?" you ask. Simple. Taxes on businesses are ALWAYS included in the prices their customers pay for the goods and services they sell. . . which means that REAL, natural persons pay those taxes because they are passed on to the customers in the price of everything they buy. Taxing businesses and corporations is merely a means governments use to hide taxes on the real producers of wealth, the workers who are the only ones who can produce wealth. The only taxation that should apply to businesses should be on the money that is distributed to the investors as dividends, draw, or other form of pay.
Do not argue that businesses would only keep the amount saved in not paying taxes. That doesn't happen because competition forces prices down. Lowering taxes on businesses results in either increased investment and lower prices. . . and increased economic productivity. Every time.
Excuse me? In what way was Apple a signatory on that Treaty?
When Apple opened its offices in Ireland it was NOT a huge business. It was a small business moving into the European market for the first time in 1980. It was only one of dozens of companies taking advantage of the attractive tax rates being offered by a country desperate to attract companies to alleviate a very high unemployment rate and a very low investment rate. Since these tax rates and regulations were available to ANY company who would locate there, it was not selective and not discriminatory in favor of any particular company, products, or specific economic sector. It was, and still is, about supporting the economy in Ireland. . . just as all of the other companies across a wide spectrum of economic sectors who located there are doing. . . which meets the letter of the Irish taxation laws and therefore does NOT violate the EU Treaties as many legal experts have pointed out. Apple was not "singled out" for benefits as the regulation requires. The benefits are open for any company or products who locate in Ireland. It is NOT a special tax rate for the purpose as listed by EU Commission on Competition.
Incidentally, they do not have the authority to make the ruling they made on Apple or Ireland. They just are usurping it under an activist Chairperson.
You really don't understand investment, capital, stock valuation, taxation, and capital gains, do you?
As with all Socialists (aka communists) they have spent everything that they were legally entitled to under the Common Market rules, so as good Socialists, they have to change the rules.
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