Apple to cough up some tax

[Osem]

Apple's Italian subsidiary has agreed to pay €318m (£235m; $348m) following an investigation into tax fraud allegations, Italy's tax office says.

Italy's tax authorities say the company failed to pay €880m in tax between 2008 and 2013, according to La Repubblica.

The settlement follows an investigation by prosecutors in Milan.

The US tech giant has not commented on the deal. It has previously denied attempting to escape paying tax owed on profits made around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35197547

Won't hold my breath on hmrc getting anything more then a good lunch.

[denphone]

Yes its a drop in that big wide ocean out there sadly.

[Hom3r]

I heard that Apple could give everyone on the planet $20, and buy Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and M&S, and still be one of the richest companies in the world.

[tweedle]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

I heard that Apple could give everyone on the planet $20, and buy Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and M&S, and still be one of the richest companies in the world.

Who did you "hear" this from?

Well, Apple has over $200 billion in cash reserves, and has a market capitalisation of $591.6 billion, so it sounds quite feasible...

7 billion people times $20 = $140 billion, Tesco market cap of £12 billion ($18 billion), Sainsburys market cap of £5 billion ($7.5 billion), M&S market cap of £7.5 billion ($11.25 billion), which adds up to around $177 billion.

Asda are part of Walmart, so difficult to get a market cap for them, but if we put it between Morrisons of £3.4 billion and Sainsburys £5 billion, so make it £4 billion, or $6 billion, makes a total of $183 billion - gives them some loose change from their cash reserves of around $17 billion...

[tweedle]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Well, Apple has over $200 billion in cash reserves, and has a market capitalisation of $591.6 billion, so it sounds quite feasible...

7 billion people times $20 = $140 billion, Tesco market cap of £12 billion ($18 billion), Sainsburys market cap of £5 billion ($7.5 billion), M&S market cap of £7.5 billion ($11.25 billion), which adds up to around $177 billion.

Asda are part of Walmart, so difficult to get a market cap for them, but if we put it between Morrisons of £3.4 billion and Sainsburys £5 billion, so make it £4 billion, or $6 billion, makes a total of $183 billion - gives them some loose change from their cash reserves of around $17 billion...

WTF LOLOLOL, Samsung paid less tax than Apple, Google Andriod paid less tax than Apple, I mean we could just mention a thousand company's lol.

Apple could buy so many companies just with their cash reserves. It makes me wonder why they didn't buy Spotify rather than try to make their own streaming service based on the Beats platform. Hell Apple could buy Disney at this point.

[Stuart]

This is where it feels like HMRC are a little toothless. If you or I joined a tax avoidance scheme, they would be on us like flies on a pile of sugar..

Yet, when any multi national corporation sets up what is obviously a tax-avoidance scheme, they seem to spend years investigating then do very little.. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...m-8794169.html

[Osem]

Well the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft have access to the best lawyers and accountants in the business as well as being able to exploit complex international tax law. The larger the corporations, the greater the leverage they have and the harder it is to nail them down. It's taken years for the Italians to get this far.

HMRC on the other hand...

[Hom3r]

Originally Posted by Stuart

This is where it feels like HMRC are a little toothless. If you or I joined a tax avoidance scheme, they would be on us like flies on a pile of sugar..

Yet, when any multi national corporation sets up what is obviously a tax-avoidance scheme, they seem to spend years investigating then do very little.. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...m-8794169.html

They would rather go after Joe public as we don't have $200,000 per hour lawyers, on speed dial.

[djfunkdup]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

They would rather go after Joe public as we don't have $200,000 per hour lawyers, on speed dial.

Who uses $200,000 per hour lawyers ?

[denphone]

Maybe a week but certainly not a hour.

Originally Posted by djfunkdup

Who uses $200,000 per hour lawyers ?

Our friend is a tax partner in at one of the Big Four accountancy firms, and the most his company has paid is £1,000 per hour (which isn't cheap) for a QC who specialises in tax cases.

[Osem]

There has been widespread criticism in the US of the European Commission's ruling that Apple should pay up to €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes.
The US Treasury said that such tax investigations were "unfair" and undermined the tax rules of individual states.
Charles Schumer, a senior Democrat senator, called the move a "cheap money grab".
The White House said the ruling could cost US taxpayers.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest argued that if Apple paid the back taxes, it might offset that amount against tax due in the United States, which would be unfair for American taxpayers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37226101

I wonder if any of the Apple owning, Starbuck boycotting brigade will do likewise to the supplier of their much loved devices or whether their retaliation, on moral grounds, against the American coffee giant was more down to the inevitable presence of Costa outlets within a stone's throw than anything else.