Money, Tax Law, Technology

Stat Of The Week: Europe Calls Shenanigans On Apple

The $14.5 billion penalty against Apple is the largest the EU has ever levied against a single corporation.

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The legal industry’s most eye-popping number this week was the $14,500,000,000 that the European Commission has ruled that Apple owes Ireland in back taxes. According to the Commission, the taxable profits for two Irish incorporated companies of the Apple group (which existed only on paper) “did not correspond to economic reality” and gave gave Apple an illegal advantage under EU state aid rules. Apple, of course, will fight the ruling.

Whatever the ultimate outcome, the case gives us a glimpse of the ingeniously contorted web of sock puppets, sub-licensing, subsidiaries, and so forth employed by Silicon Valley tech giants in order to dodge the taxman. Wired lays it out beautifully (originally published in 2014, and updated to reflect the breaking news):

silicon valley tax schemes

Source: Wired (follow the link for the full-sized interactive chart).

Brian Dalton is the director of research for Breaking Media. Feel free to email him with any questions or comments.

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