APPLE'S IRISH PROBLEM

摘要

On 30 September the European Commission published further details of its in-depth probe into whether tax breaks given to Apple in Ireland amount to unlawful state aid. The investigation, launched back in June, concerns two tax rulings validating Apple's transfer pricing arrangements (advance pricing arrangements) granted by Irish Revenue in 1991 and 2007. The Commission's preliminary view is that these rulings constitute state aid. A measure amounts to state aid if it is imputable to the state and financed through state resources; confers an advantage on the recipient; is selective; and distorts or threatens to distort competition and has the potential to affect trade between member states.If the Commission finds that the 1991 and 2007 tax rulings amounted to unlawful state aid, it may order recovery by Ireland of the tax that otherwise would have been paid by Apple since 12 June 2003 - 10 years before the Commission started its initial investigation - plus interest.