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by NoboruWataya 946 days ago
Without getting into the nitty gritty of it, it seems pretty obvious that there is a lack of clarity given that the European Commission came to one conclusion, the General Court concluded that the European Commission was incorrect and now an advocate general for the European Court of Justice has concluded that the General Court was incorrect. These are all smart people who have spent a lot of time and effort studying the law in this area. There are a lot of extremely reductionist takes on the case in the media but the actual legal principles in dispute, and their application to the facts, are quite complex.
1 comments
izacus 946 days ago
You keep mixing up "muddying the waters to avoid paying tax" and "lack of clarity" The "lack" you speak of is generated by a megacorporation to avoid paying their part - and you keep attributing it to the wrong party.
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TrapLord_Rhodo 946 days ago
It's not apple V. EU. It's Ireland Vs. EU. The real crux of the argument is; Does Ireland have the authority to grant Apple it's deal.
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AnthonyMouse 946 days ago
Corporations will always attempt to lower their costs. It's like blaming the rain for being wet.

It isn't inherently necessary to have a tax system so convoluted that these games are even possible. If you tax wages and companies employ people in your jurisdiction then they have to remit the tax. If you tax sales and people buy things in your jurisdiction then companies have to remit the tax. If you tax property and companies own property in your jurisdiction etc. etc.

The problem is governments keep trying to tax companies not based on what happens in their jurisdiction but what happens outside of it, which they can only do sometimes, and that gives the companies an opportunity to find ways to make it one of the times they can't. Just stop doing that and tax the things that actually happen in your jurisdiction.

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NoboruWataya 946 days ago
It is the EU institutions who are disagreeing with each other, Apple have nothing to do with it. The General Court of the EU isn't muddying the waters to help Apple avoid paying tax.

This is the General Court's judgment by the way: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62...

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