The EU’s ruling that ordered Apple to pay €13bn in back taxes was met with an out pouring of rage from Washington.
Announced earlier in the week, Apple is being forced to pay a record penalty for paying well under what other businesses in Ireland have to pay in taxes. This has made the U.S. very upset. This includes the majority of the politicians, as well.
The U.S. Treasury has said that such investigations are unfair and undermining to tax rules of individual states. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook stated that he thought the investigation was “total crap”. Senior Democrat Senator, Charles Schumer said that Brussels made a cheap grab for cash from US revenues.
The EU has retrospectively torn up its own rules to fine Apple so high that it’s claimed the title of biggest in history.
Tax avoidance has been fought tooth and nail the last few years, with loopholes that have enabled large corporations as well as individuals to pay less taxes; slowly closing. The Obama Administration has been said too responsible for similar acts Apple is dealing with now. The U.S. Treasury has gone after small time corporations that tried to side step the 40pc corporation tax rate by sending their tax base overseas.
Changes earlier this year have undermined a proposed $200bn “mega-merger” of Pfizer and Allergan, who essentially run the drug making business. The Justice Department also blocked a string of proposed tie- ups, like the $45bn scheme to combine Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and a merger of Sysco and US Foods for $8.8bn.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviews take overs that could raise the national security concerns. They have blocked Chinese bids for American Companies, with little more than opinion to validate these actions.
Washington has even battled with a number of European companies. Fining European giants HSBC Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas with devastatingly high fines for not following US trade sanctions with some of its biggest adversaries.
The fine Brussel’s has enacted against Apple has marked a low in relations for the two. The negative outlook has been brought on solely by Washington in this case.
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