Apple says EU tax ruling will harm investment, job creation – from Business Insider

Apple to the EU: The $14.5 billion back tax ruling “will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.”

Dr. Robert Reich comments on Facebook:

“Apple’s long-standing assertion that it does not pay corporate taxes in the U.S. because its foreign (i.e., non-American) revenues are reinvested in the foreign countries where it earns them, turns out to be questionable. Apple’s effective European tax rate has been just 1 percent (it sank to 0.005 percent in 2014), which, according to the European Union, reflects some tax cheating. The EU just ruled that Apple must pay $14.5 billion in back taxes it owes.

The story isn’t over, of course. Apple says the ruling “will have profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.” Translated: Apple may pull jobs out. Apple, like most global corporations, exchanges low taxes for jobs.”

What do you think?

Apple’s official statement on the European Union ruling against its Irish tax arrangements tells you all you need to know about what is at stake: You can have taxes or you can have jobs, but Apple is in no mood to deliver both.

After learning Tuesday morning that the EU expects Apple to pay €13 billion (£11 billion, $14.5 billion) in back taxes, the company said, “It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.”

That is not a threat, technically. But it will be seen as one by EU politicians who want to attract new companies to their countries.

Back in 1991, Apple struck a tax deal with Ireland that was completely aboveboard and legal. The Irish government provided Apple with a “comfort letter” that said the company would pay very low rates of tax if it based its European operations in Ireland.

In the 25 years since, Apple has created thousands of jobs in Ireland. By 2015 it had 5,000 employees in the country. Another 1,000 jobs are planned for the headquarters in the Irish city of Cork. This year Apple will open its site near the town of Athenry, with another 200 jobs in the making.
The result of the deal between Apple and Ireland, intended or not, was pretty clear: Give us low taxes, and we will give you jobs. A note from a meeting between the government and an Apple tax adviser in 1990 said:

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