蘋果可能接到歐盟天價罰單

Apple will be accused of prospering from illegal tax deals with the Irish government for more than two decades when Brussels this week unveils details of a probe that could leave the iPhone maker with a record fine of as much as several billions of euros.

蘋果(Apple)將被指在20多年裏獲利於其與愛爾蘭政府達成的非法稅務安排。本週歐盟(EU)將公佈相關調查結果，這可能意味着iPhone製造商將接到高達數十億歐元的創紀錄罰單。

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Preliminary findings from the European Commission’s investigation into Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland, where it has had a rate of less than 2 per cent, claim the Silicon Valley company benefited from illicit state aid after striking backroom deals with Ireland’s authorities, according to people involved in the case. Apple, which has operated in Ireland since 1980, maintains that its agreements with Ireland did not break any laws. “There’s never been any special deal, there’s never been anything that would be construed as state aid,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times.

知情人士表示，歐盟委員會(European Commission)對蘋果在愛爾蘭稅務安排的調查將得出初步結論，指稱這家硅谷企業在與愛爾蘭當局達成黑箱交易後，多年享受低於2%的稅率，獲利於非法政府補貼。自1980年起就在愛爾蘭開展業務的蘋果堅稱，其與愛爾蘭達成的協議並不違法。“從來沒有什麼特殊交易，從來沒有任何可被視爲政府補貼的東西，”蘋果首席財務官盧卡•馬埃斯特里(Luca Maestri)對英國《金融時報》表示。

The attack on the tax practices of the world’s richest company follows last year’s US Senate hearings, where it emerged that Apple shifted billions of dollars in profits out of the US to international subsidiaries with no declared tax residency. Based on its concerns, the commission has decided to open an in-depth investigation of arrangements between Apple and the Irish authorities dating back to 1991. It is part of a wider crackdown on what Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s competition commissioner, has called “aggressive” tax avoidance.

歐盟對世界上財力最雄厚的企業的稅務實踐發起攻擊之前，去年美國參議院曾舉行聽證會，發現蘋果將鉅額利潤從美國轉移至海外子公司，而且沒有申報後者的稅務居住地(tax residency)。出於關切，歐盟委員會決定對蘋果與愛爾蘭政府從1991年起達成的稅務安排展開深入調查。此舉是對歐盟競爭事務專員華金•阿爾穆尼亞(Joaquín Almunia)所稱的“激進”避稅展開的全面打擊的一部分。

Brussels is also investigating similar deals between Starbucks and the Dutch government, and Fiat Finance and Trade, the financial arm of the automotive group, with Luxembourg.

歐盟還在調查星巴克(Starbucks)與荷蘭政府、以及跨國車企菲亞特(Fiat)旗下菲亞特金融及貿易公司(Fiat Finance and Trade)與盧森堡政府達成的類似安排。