The European Commission today announced Apple has received 13 billion euros in illegal state aid from the Irish government. This decision follows the investigations on illegal state aid between the Dutch government and Starbucks, the Luxembourg government and Fiat, and the Belgian government for its ‘excess profit’ tax scheme.
In reaction, Aurore Chardonnet, Oxfam EU policy advisor on inequality and tax, made the following statement:
“This decision shows that some tax practices by EU member states can be terribly damaging. Poverty in Europe has been rising and some EU countries have even had bailout programs in recent years, so it makes no sense for European governments spurn the chance to raise billions in corporate tax income for the benefit of their citizens.
“These sweetheart deals that let multinationals minimize their tax cannot be tolerated. If people's trust in the tax system is to be restored, European governments must act immediately to end these special deals otherwise people’s trust in the tax system will continue to evaporate.
“So far, the multinationals that have been exposed by the European Commission have only had to pay back their missing taxes – no additional fines have been levied. This is not a sufficient deterrent whatsoever.
“More needs to be done to stop such deals in the future including the disclosure of core elements of tax rulings. In addition, companies must be forced to disclose where they generate their profits and where they pay their taxes. This would give governments and civil society the ability to hold these companies to account.”
Robbie Silverman, Oxfam America’s senior private sector adviser added:
“Yet again the European Commission has found that a major US company is using accounting tricks and special deals to substantially underpay its taxes. This latest ruling offers renewed evidence of endemic corporate tax dodging on a massive scale, which will not be solved by individual rulings against one company in one jurisdiction.
“The White House, the US Treasury, and Congress must take aggressive action in coordination with governments around the world to crack down on tax haven abuse by American companies that harms working families, small businesses and poor people everywhere. Forward-thinking companies need to step up, as well – it is not credible for any company, big or small, to say that is acting responsibly and sustainably while dodging its rightful share of taxes.”