[kergonath]

> That argument is quite a stretch when the EU tends to pass relatively ambiguous legislation and leave interpretation relatively open compared to for example the legal framework in the US, when it was not some random law firm but literally the relevant national government that gave Apple the OK, and when that situation was widely known and apparently accepted for about 30 years before the EU intervened.

That is because the EU is not responsible for the member-states’ national laws, so they leave some room for different implementations. It’s on purpose.

In the case of Apple’s situation, it’s completely different. What is relevant is Irish law, which is clear and unambiguous. What was misleading was the behaviour of the Irish government.

> I think the EU will pay a high price for actions like this. It is retrospectively moving the goalposts decades after the fact and trying to shift billions in funds when ironically neither the company paying the taxes nor the member state government apparently compelled now to collect them want that situation.

They are not moving the goalposts. It’s more analogous to the IRS saying that there was an error in someone’s tax filings some years ago and that they need to pay the back taxes. Again, there is no fine here. The amount Apple has to pay is what they should have paid according to Irish law at the time.

[Silhouette]

That is because the EU is not responsible for the member-states’ national laws, so they leave some room for different implementations. It’s on purpose.

That's not quite how it works. The EU makes binding legislation in three different forms. Regulations - such as the GDPR - apply directly in all member states. Directives are the indirect ones that establish a principle but require member states to implement their own laws to give direct effect to that principle. Finally there are decisions, which are binding on a specific party such as a company or member state.

You can read more about the different types of EU legislation at https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/law....

But the decision in this particular case wasn't (directly) any of those things. It was a ruling by the ECJ in a case brought by the Commission.

What is relevant is Irish law, which is clear and unambiguous. What was misleading was the behaviour of the Irish government.

But this is the problem. Tax systems are always complicated and open to interpretation in numerous ways. Large businesses are always required to make judgements about what they need to do to be in compliance with all of the relevant rules and always take advice from experts on these matters. What this action by the EU means is that businesses - including properly run businesses that have no intent to cheat anyone of anything - can no longer trust that following advice even from what should be the most authoritative sources they can ask will be sufficient.

They are not moving the goalposts.

The arrangements this legal saga has been about ran from the early 1990s for more than 20 years.

The EU started the legal action in 2016 when those arrangements had already ceased anyway and has spent about 8 years chasing it through the various courts and processes to reach this point.

If the IRS went after someone's tax filings from a year or two ago because they hadn't paid the correct tax that would be one thing. This is more like the IRS going after someone's tax filings from 30 years ago after allowing the arrangements to continue unchallenged with its full knowledge for a further 20 years and knowing that the the individual had already paid tax to another tax authority during that period instead because they weren't paying it to the IRS.

Except it's not really like that either because in this case it looks like it was the equivalent of the IRS that gave its blessing to the arrangements in the first place. So it's more analogous to some hypothetical higher authority coming along over 20 years after the fact and declaring that there was an error in someone's taxes that had been reported according to an agreement with the federal government and accepted by the IRS.

[sensanaty]

The IRS isn't comparable to this case because there's 2 entities at play, the Irish tax authority and the EU's.

I'm not too familiar with how exactly it works in the US so excuse the probably poor example, but this is more like Texas deciding that they want to attract businesses by saying they'd lower taxes a bunch. They say to the IRS "Hey, we're going to be lowering all corporate taxes to 15% across the board, is this good with you?". The IRS says sure, not knowing that what Texas is actually doing is making sweetheart deals with companies like Apple to have them pay a tax rate that is basically 0 (0.005% as is the case with Apple in Ireland).

This tax-free opportunity is only provided to a single company. The lying here is relevant, because Texas explicitly told the IRS they'd be charging every business at 15%, only to then make a special deal with Apple that's unfair to all other businesses and Apple's competitors.

A decade later (more like 2 in this case), the IRS investigates and sees there's been a discrepancy between what Texas said they'd be doing (taxing them at 15% like they said they'd charge every business) and what they're actually doing. So, the IRS says that's not allowed, and that Apple now owes Texas that unpaid tax income whether Texas wants to take it or not.

Texas doesn't want it because it makes them look like they're double dipping. Apple doesn't want it for obvious reasons.