Apple's little secret was finally exposed--and it's something the technology giant has been hiding from governments worldwide.
After an exhaustive investigation, the European Commission found that Ireland's tax arrangements with Apple are illegal and that it owes the Irish government €13 billion. But that's not even the half of it. Apple has close to €200 billion in profits tucked away in offshore accounts.
Apple must be held accountable - demand that it pays what it owes now!
This is a landmark ruling. Apple is one of many multinational corporations that dodge taxes by hiding profits in offshore accounts, meaning that corporations evade paying billions in taxes by deliberately directing revenue to tax havens, like Ireland.
The EU investigator has now suggested other countries should examine how Apple does its business worldwide - and every jurisdiction should claim a share of the unpaid tax from Apple for the same period.
Let's look at the bigger picture. Multinational corporations have trillions of Euros in untaxed profits offshore. Imagine if public services worldwide could benefit from that kind of funding.
What we do now counts, we need to pile the pressure on companies like Apple and make sure they follow the rules. SumOfUs members like you have joined in the hundreds of thousands to hold the biggest corporations accountable -- just this summer we proved that the proposed merger between Monsanto and Bayer is completely illegal, and half a million of us have stood together to oppose it. When we come together, no corporation is above the law.
Demand that Apple pays up!
The fact of the matter is that large corporations are the world’s biggest and most repeat offenders. Join us in demanding a more equitable tax system worldwide. It starts with a household name like Apple being held accountable.
More information
BBC. 30 August 2016.
Americans for Tax Fairness.