2016
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Pinning Down Apples Alleged 0.005% Tax Rate Is Nearly Impossible
by Lynnley Browning and David Kocieniewski (Bloomberg)
The European Commission's finding that Ireland must collect as much as an attention-getting 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes from Apple Inc. contained a second stunning number: 0.005 percent.
"It's plausible, butwe can't verify it," said Michelle Hanlon, a professor of accounting and taxes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. Apple, like most multinational companies, doesn't disclose a country-by-country breakdown of its profits or taxes paid.
For the Bloomberg story, gohere.
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Apple Bites Back, Says Ruling Was Politically Motivated
The European Commission's finding that Apple Inc. received approximately ÔøΩ13 billion in illegal state aid from Irelandwas politically motivated, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
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Tim Cook Says Apple Could Send Cash Back to U.S. Next Year
by Paul Hannon and Sam Schechner (Thewall Street Journal)
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company may repatriate at least some of the billions of dollars of cash it holds offshore as early as next year, in comments made in thewake of a ÔøΩ13 billion ($14.5 billion) tax claw-back decision by European authorities.
Mr. Cook took his case to Ireland on Thursday, blasting the decision as "political crap" and saying anti-competition authorities in Brussels miscalculated how much tax the company paid in Ireland.
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Apple May Repatriate at Least $5 Billion in 2017, Cook Says
by Alexwebb
Apple Inc. may bring at least $5 billion of its offshore cash back to the U.S. next year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook suggested in an interview on Irish radio.
"We provisioned several billion dollars for the U.S. for payment as soon aswe repatriate it, and right now Iwould forecast that repatriation to occur next year," Cook told RTE Radio 1.
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Business Groups Warn Against Double Taxation of Santander
by Erin McManus
Business groups say that Congress intended to prevent the double taxation towhich Santander Holdings USA Inc.would be subject if it isn't allowed foreign tax credits incurred in a transactionwith Barclays Bank PLC (Santander Holdings USA, Inc. v. United States, 1st Cir., No. 16-01282, briefs filed 8/22/16).
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PE risk of cross-boarder service to China
by Maggie Zhuang
Foreign businesses offering cross-border service provisions to Chinese entities must take caution as the tax authorities are becoming more confident than ever in looking into cross-border transactions involving Chinese companies.
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Denmark Announces Significant Tax Initiatives in 2025 Reform Plan
by Arne Riis and Poul ErikLytken (Tax Notes)
The Danish government on August 30 presented a major 2025 reform plan that contains several significant tax initiatives.
It remains to be seenwhether the minority government during the next few monthswill be able to secure the support needed from other political parties to implement the plan. Also, a number of the initiatives are subject to the prior approval of the European Commission,which is generally expected to support the measures.
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Canada Mulling Ways to Handle Stateless Entities in CbC Reports
by Stephanie Soong Johnson (Tax Notes)
The Canada Revenue Agency is considering how to properly report data for stateless entities in country-by-country (CbC) reports under action 13 of the OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project, an issue that is causing some consternation among practitioners.
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BEPS Corner: Are the Final BEPS Reports on Actions 8-10 Effective Now?
by Jason Osborn, Brian Kittle and Kenneth Klein (Tax Notes)
In this article, the authors discuss the impact of the final BEPS actions 8-10 reports,which contain final, currently applicable revisions to the OECD transfer pricing guidelines.
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Digital Economy Requires International Cooperation on VAT, OECD Official Says
by Ryan Finley (Tax Notes)
Cross-border transactions involving digital products have made VAT enforcement a global issue that can be effectively addressed only through coordinated international efforts and a globally consistent set of rules, according to Stéphane Buydens, VAT policy adviser at the OECD.
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Apple's Income Should Be Taxed in U.S., Not Ireland, Lew Says
by Alexander Lewis (Tax Notes)
The European Commission's finding that Apple Inc. received illegal state aid from Ireland to the tune of ÔøΩ13 billion represents an attempt to tax income that belongs to the United States, according to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
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Tax Move Is EU''s Latest on Tech -- WSJ
by Sam Schechner (Nasdaq)
The European Union's decision Tuesday that Apple Inc. owes roughly 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) inwhat it calls uncollected taxes over a decade, represents a new high-water mark in the bloc's efforts to rein in alleged excesses of American tech giants.
But it is also just the first shot inwhat is expected to be a busy autumn for European officials,who are pushing forward a raft of regulations and investigations aimed at altering the behavior of a cadre of U.S.-based internet superpowers.
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Yesterday, Outraged by Apples Tax Dodge. Today, by Its Tax Bill
by Alan Rappeport (The New York Times)
American lawmakers have for years been assailing companies for dodging taxeswith overseas maneuvers. But now that the European Union has done something about it by trying towrest billions of dollars from Apple, those officials have offered a response viewed by many as rifewith hypocrisy: collective outrage.
Tax avoidance has become a lightning rod as the presidential campaign has taken on a strong populist cast, and leading Republicans and Democrats in Congress have demanded that companies be forced to pay their fair share.
Despite all that, Apple now has the federal government standing up for it after the European Union's executive commission ordered Ireland on Tuesday to collect $14.5 billion in taxes from the company.
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Intangibles Regs Grant Perpetual Life, but Are They 'Useful'?
by Kristina L. Novak, Mark Thomas and Cym H. Lowell (Tax Notes)
In this article, the authors argue that in granting perpetual useful life to intangibles, the recently proposed section 367(d) regulations appear to be inconsistentwith much of the data and experience provided by today's dynamic business environment. They conclude that Treasury's view is unfortunate for taxpayers in an area already fraughtwith litigation and that it may have unintended consequences for the IRS.
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Practitioners: EU Apple Case Will Cause Chaos, Hurt BEPS
by Alex M. Parker
The European Commission's decision to require Apple Inc. to retroactively pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in unpaid taxes increases uncertainty and chaos in the international tax system, throws tax rulings and advance pricing agreements into question and undermines other global efforts to dealwith international tax avoidance, practitioners say.
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Lack of U.S. Tax Overhaul Is a Shame,' Saint-Amans Says
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Lew: EU's Apple Tax Ruling Shows U.S. Companies Targeted
by Saleha Mohsin
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said the European Union is singling out American companies for tax investigations as shown by its ruling thisweek that Apple Inc. must pay Ireland more than 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes.
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EU Apple Ruling to Hurt Global Companies: Technology Group
by Alison Bennett
Global technology companies face big problems overseas and in the U.S. after the European Union ruled that Apple Inc. owed $14.5 billion in taxes it avoided through Irish tax agreements, according to a major technology group that counts Apple among its 60 members.
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Corporate Foreign Tax Credit Claims Rise as Economy Recovers
by Colleen Murphy
The number of corporations looking to reduce their income taxes increased 6.9 percent in 2012, the IRS said.
In total, 7,190 U.S. corporations claimed the creditÔøΩsignaling recovery from the "hangover" of the Great Recession, Robertonwilliams, the Sol Price Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 31.
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Fighting Apple's Record Tax Bill: What Happens Next?
by Stephanie Bodoni
Apple Inc. and Ireland have always vowed to go to court to fight a negative European Commission ruling over the iPhone maker's fiscal affairs.
Ireland received the commission's full decision Aug. 31, andwillwant to study exactlywhy the regulator thinks theworld's richest company must pay back years of allegedly illegal tax breaks.
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News Analysis: The EU's Vanishing Withholding Tax Regimes -- Part II
The authors conclude their review of the Court of Justice of the European Union's ongoing scrutiny ofwithholding taxes imposed by member states on cross-border financing arrangements. Thisweek they look at the Court's treatment of interestwithholding under the EU and European Economic Area guarantees of freedom to provide services.
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Fact-Checking Apples Claims on E.U. Tax Ruling
by Katie Banner (The New York Times)
Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, issued a defiant letter to his European customers on Tuesday after the region's antitrust enforcer ordered Ireland to collect 13 billion euros, or about $14.5 billion, in back taxes from the company.
We examined some of the points Mr. Cook made in the letter, consultingwith five tax experts to fact-check the chief executive's statements.while Mr. Cookwas technically truthful, he omitted some context and shifted the spotlight from the thrust of the European Commission's case:whether Apple took advantage of loopholes in Irish tax laws.
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Apple Owes $14.5 Billion in Back Taxes to Ireland, E.U. Says
by James Kanter and Mark Scott (The New York Times)
The European Union on Tuesday ordered Ireland to collect $14.5 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple, a record penalty thatworsened tensionswith the United States over the bloc's crackdown on sweetheart dealswith global multinationals.
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Brexit May Make U.K. More Attractive to Multinationals After EUs Apple Ruling
by Jason Douglas (Thewall Street Journal)
In theory, quitting the European Unionwould free the U.K. from the sort of EU oversight that on Tuesday resulted in Brussels ordering Ireland to recoup some 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) ofwhat it called unpaid taxes from one of its biggest multinational investors, Apple Inc.
That, and the country's low corporate-tax rate, could burnish post-Brexit Britain's allure for multinational companies, provided it maintains a high degree of access to the EU's huge single market for goods and services, tax experts said.
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EU Apple Tax Ruling Stirs Fears of Revenue Loss in U.S.
by Richard Rubin (Thewall Street Journal)
American politicians have spent years salivating over U.S. companies' stockpile of untaxed foreign profits, now more than $2 trillion and growing.
Europe got to that money pot first.
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Europes Apple Tax Ambush
by Thewall Street Journal
Even by the usual Brussels standards of economic malpractice, Tuesday's 13 billion euro ($14.5 billion) tax assault on Apple is something to behold. The European Commission decided that Dublin's application of Irish tax law to an American company violated European antitrust rules. Orwellwould understand.
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Apple owes $14.5 billion in back taxes, European authorities say
by Renae Merle (Thewashington Post)
European authorities ruled Tuesday that Apple owes more than $14.5 billion in back taxes after striking a sweetheart dealwith Ireland that allowed the tech giant to underpay for more than a decade.
Apple paid a tax rate of 1 percent or even less - 0.0005 percent, in some years - on its European profits, according to the European Commission,which launched an investigation into the company's international tax strategies in 2014. That arrangement, according to the commission, is illegal because it amounts to an improper incentive under European rules.
The ruling is likely to rattle many U.S. corporate boardroomswhere aggressive tax strategies have become standard practice.
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How the E.U.s ruling on Apple explains why Brexit happened
by Max Bearak (Thewashington Post)
The governing body of the European Union ruled Tuesday that one of its members, Ireland, had broken its rules by allowing U.S.-based Apple to pay a tax rate of 1 percent - and sometimes as little as 0.0005 percent. Ireland's regular tax rate is 12.5 percent, and the E.U.'s rules state that members cannot give special benefits to individual companies, even if the entity in question is the most highly valued company in theworld.
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House and Senate Taxwriters Denounce Apple State Aid Ruling
by Dylan F. Moroses (Tax Notes)
House and Senate taxwriters voiced their frustration andworry about the European Commission's announcement August 30 that Ireland must collect ÔøΩ13 billion in illegal state aid it provided to Apple over a decade through tax rulings.
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Clearinghouse Systems Not Ready for Dividend Equivalent Rule
by Allyson Versprille
The effective date for the IRS's dividend equivalent payment rules should be postponed a year to give clearinghouses enough time to bring software systems up-to-date, two groups said.
The Internal Revenue Service issued final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9734) under tax code Section 871(m) in September 2015. The rules governwithholding on certain notional principal contracts, derivatives and other equity-linked instrumentswith payments that reference dividends on U.S. equity securities. The guidancewas aimed at stopping foreign investors from skirting the U.S.withholding tax.
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Ryan: EU's $14.5B tax ruling against Apple 'awful'
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday ripped the European Union's "awful" determination that Apple should pay Ireland $14.5 billion in back taxes.
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Brady Statement on the European Commissions Multibillion-Dollar Tax Bill to Apple
byKevin Brady (Ways and Means)
Today Houseways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released a statement after the European Commission's decision seeking to impose a multibillion-dollar tax bill on Apple, Inc.
To read more go here
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Apple's in a Cage Fight on Tax
by Leila Abboud (Bloomberg)
The European Commission just turned taxation of multinational companies into a cage fight and put U.S. firms on notice that the oldway of negotiating dealswith individual countries is no longer a sure thing.
Expect some unintended, and unwelcome, consequences.
To read more go here
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Apple Ireland Ruling Could Be the End of Easy European Tax Deals
by Alexwebb and Adam Sarariano (Bloomberg)
The dayswhen big U.S. technology companies could easily slice tax bills in Europe are coming to an end.
On Tuesday, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager sent the strongest signal yet that shewon't abide these strategieswhen she demanded Apple pay an estimated 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes.
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Could The EU's 'Apple Tax' Reboot Corporate Tax Reform In The U.S.?
by Howard Gleckman (Forbes.com)
For years, corporate tax reform in the U.S. has been dead in thewater, in part because of deep disagreementswithin the American business community overwhat such a restructuring should look like. But the European Union's increasingly aggressive effort to force its members to collect tax on U.S.-based multinationals has the potential to change that dynamic.
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The Growing Uncertainty in the International Tax System
by Scott Greenberg (Tax Foundation)
Earlier today, the European Commission announced that itwould require Ireland to collect roughly $14.5 billion in taxes from Apple, after determining that Ireland had granted Apple "illegal tax benefits" under the rules of the European Union.
Today's decision is one in a string of recent European Commission rulings about the taxation of American businesses that operate in Europe.
To read more go here
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Genevas Corporate-Tax Fight Becomes Mother of All Battles
by Albertina Torsoli and Dylan Griffiths (Bloomberg)
When the European Union pressured Switzerland to scrap tax breaks for foreign companies, Geneva had most to lose. Now, the canton that's home to almost 1,000 multinationals is set to use tax to burnish its appeal.
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European Commission finds that Ireland has granted unlawful State aid to Apple
by PWC
In its press release issued on August 30, 2016, the European Commission announced the adoption of its final decision in the formal State aid investigation into the profit attribution arrangements and corporate taxation of Apple in Ireland. The Commission concluded that, in its opinion, Apple benefitted from unlawful State aid granted by Ireland, and it orders full recovery of the aid in an amount of up to ÔøΩ13 billion plus compound interest.
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Apple, Congress and the Missing Taxes
by The Editorial Board (New York Times)
Apple and the United States are crying foul over the ruling in Europe that Apple received illegal tax breaks from Ireland and must hand over 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion), a record tax penalty in Europe.
But Apple and the United States have only themselves to blame for the situation.
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Dispute Resolution Landscape Becoming More Difficult, Practitioners Say
by Stephanie Soong Johnson (Tax Notes)
While conventionalwisdom says it's better to resolve tax disputes at an early stage, such as the audit level, it's becoming more difficult to resolve cases and remain confident in advance pricing agreements, especially in light of the controversial European Commission decision that Apple Inc. received illegal state aid, practitioners said.
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Ireland Ordered to Recover $13 Billion in State Aid From Apple
by J.P. Finet (Tax Notes)
A 1991 advance pricing agreement issued to Apple affiliates by the Irish government may have artificially lowered the company's tax bill and resulted in as much as ÔøΩ13 billion in illegal state aid.
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Press Release: Has the European Commissions Apple decision signalled the beginning of the end of tax wars?
by Tax Justice Network
The European Commission's assessment of ÔøΩ13 billion in taxes due from Apple Inc. for 2003 through 2014 seems to alignwith German and U.K. calculations of amounts due, the Tax Justice Network said in an August 30 statement following the commission's decision on Irish state aid for Apple.
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Canada in Informal Talks With IRS on Further Joint Audit Work
by Stephanie Soong Johnson (Tax Notes)
After recent successwith a joint audit under their pilot program, the Canada Revenue Agency and the IRS are in preliminary, informal discussions about carrying out furtherwork in the same vein, according to a top Canadian tax official.
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News Release: U.S. Should Take a Page from European Commission's Book and Crack Down on Corporate Tax Avoidance
by CTJ Reports (Citizens for Tax Justice)
Instead of questioning the validity of the European Commission's ruling on the state aid provided to Apple Inc., the U.S. should follow the commission's lead andwork to eliminate corporate tax avoidance, Matthew Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in an August 30 statement released by Citizens for Tax Justice.
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ATF Applauds European Commission Action Against Apple and Ireland
by Americans for Tax Fairness
The European Commission's decision ordering Ireland to recover ÔøΩ13 billion in illegal state aid from Apple Inc. is a strong stand against secret tax deals, and the Treasury Department should pursue its own legal claims against Apple for tax dodging and profit shifting, Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness said in an August 30 release.
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On Apple, U.S. Should Follow Europes Lead Level Playing Field for Small Business to Compete
by Clark Gascoigne (Fact Coalition)
Congress and Treasury should follow Europe's example and level the tax playing field for small businesses, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition said in August 30 comments on the European Commission's decision that Ireland granted Apple illegal state aid through tax rulings.
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APAs More Efficient After New Efforts: Canadian, U.S. Officials
by Alex M. Parker
Officials from the Canadian and U.S. tax authorities said front-loading the information-gathering process for their advance pricing agreement programs has helped make the process smoother and quicker.
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Appeal of APAs Fades in Light of EU State-Aid Rulings
Corporations considering advance pricing agreementswith tax authorities in the European Union mightwant to think twice in light of judgments against Apple Inc. and other multinationals, practitioners say.
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Apple's $14.5 Billion EU Bill May Pressure U.S. on Overhaul
by David Kocieniewski and Lynnley Browning
The European Union's finding that Apple Inc. owes Ireland more than $14 billion in back taxes reveals the high cost the Treasury Department may pay by failing to keep pace in a global effort to stem corporate tax avoidanceÔøΩand Apple might represent only the first major U.S. loss.
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A Battle Against Base Erosion: D.C.'s Chainbridge' Saga
by Dolores Gregory
In the second article of a two-part series, Bloomberg BNA looks at the obstacles confronting states as they combat abusive transfer pricing. This article focuses on the efforts undertaken by the District of Columbia to combat revenue losses through its contractwith economic consulting firm Chainbridge Software LLC.
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