[Nursie]

> "a ton of tax at the relatively high income tax rates there"

Firstly, that's not Apple paying income tax, that's their employees.

Secondly, they don't pay much in the way of corporation or other taxes that usually apply because of a sweetheart deal (Google also has one IIRC), which is why much of the EU is up in arms about the Irish government's behaviour here, that effectively allows these multinationals to operate across the EU without paying the usual expected taxes, giving them an advantage over local businesses and depriving governments of income, and there have been various court cases about it.

[Y_Y]

"Sweetheart deals" are not allowed in the EU, and whether or not there was one in this case is a matter of controversy[0]. In fact the EU courts have decided that there was no breach of law by Apple, though a further appeal maybe yet be made. It's easy to sling around accusations like this, but it's important to check the facts at the same time.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple%27s_EU_tax_dispute

[Nursie]

Whether they were precisely sweetheart deals or not, it remains that Apple and the Irish government did negotiate 'deals' and that Ireland has facilitated a lot of tax reduction for large US multinational corps, which much of the EU believes costs them both revenue and competitiveness.

It is interesting that the last news about this is the EU saying they are going to appeal, three years ago.

I find the use of such schemes pretty awful regardless of whether they technically fall inside of the law.

[Y_Y]

I can't disagree with any of that, except to say that I don't think the choice that a multinational makes is between Ireland and nothing.

At some point you are making enough money that it makes sense for you to hire experts to "optimise" your tax liabilities, just like you'd hire someone to improve your IT infrastructure or your heating bill. If they didn't base their corporate structure around Ireland then it might have been Jersey or Malta or something else that got them 90% of what they had.

It sucks when the outcome is that big companies end up paying less than they're expected to and have lower effective rates than small companies. I see it not as a moral failing so much as a law of nature, like flood waters taking the path of least resistance and destroying slums before bank buildings. Reasonably people certainly differ though.

[kawhah]

I don't think you've successfully checked any facts.

The GP correctly and idiomatically described a tax deal between RoI and Apple as a 'sweetheart' deal. This is not a legal term of art. The fact that Ireland won its court case and is facing an appeal does not change the fact that something took place which exactly meets the commonly understood definition of a sweetheart deal.