欧盟裁定苹果补缴130亿欧税款

Apple has warned that future investment by multinationals in Europe could be hit after it was ordered to pay a record-breaking Euro13bn (￡11bn) in back taxes to Ireland.欧盟拒绝苹果公司向爱尔兰政府补缴创纪录的130亿欧元（110亿英镑）税款。苹果警告称之为跨国公司未来在欧洲的投资或遭到压制。

The world’s largest company was presented with the huge bill after the European commission ruled that a sweetheart tax deal between Apple and the Irish tax authorities amounted to illegal state aid.欧盟委员会裁决苹果公司与爱尔兰税务当局达成协议的税收优惠协议科非法国家援助后，这家全球仅次于的公司面对天价税单。The commission said the deal allowed Apple to pay a maximum tax rate of just 1%. 欧盟委员会称之为，该优惠协议使苹果公司的最低税率仅有1%。In 2014, the tech firm paid tax at just 0.005%. 2014年，这家科技公司的税率仅有为0.005%。The usual rate of corporation tax in Ireland is 12.5%.而爱尔兰企业所得税的一般来说税率是12.5%。

Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules, said the European competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, whose investigation of Apple’s complex tax dealings has taken three years.欧盟竞争事务专员玛格丽特韦斯塔格回应：成员国不得向个别公司获取税收优惠——优惠协议违背了欧盟的国家援助规定。维斯塔格对苹果公司简单税收交易的调查已展开了三年。Vestager’s ruling prompted an angry response from Apple and from Ireland and is likely to spark a political row between the US and the EU. 维斯塔格的裁决引发苹果和爱尔兰的强烈不满，并有可能引起美国与欧盟之间的政治争辩。

The US Treasury said the ruling threatened to damage the important spirit of economic partnership between the US and the EU.美国财政部称之为此裁决不会危害美国和欧盟之间最重要的经济合作精神。In a letter to customers, Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, claimed the ruling could deal a blow to big companies investing in Europe: Beyond the obvious targeting of Apple, the most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe. 苹果首席执行官蒂姆库克在致客户的信中称之为，该裁决不会对投资欧洲的大型企业导致压制：这一裁决除显著针对苹果外，还将对欧洲的投资和低收入产生深远影响的负面影响。Using the commission’s theory, every company in Ireland and across Europe is suddenly at risk of being subjected to taxes under laws that never existed.按欧盟委员会的理论，爱尔兰和欧洲的任何一家公司忽然都要根据未曾不存在的法律来交纳税款了。

The commission said Ireland’s tax arrangements with Apple between 1991 and 2015 had allowed the US company to attribute sales to a head office that only existed on paper and could not have generated such profits.欧盟委员会回应，爱尔兰与苹果1991至2015年间的税收协议允许了苹果将销售额归属于一家总部名下，而这一总部实际并不不存在，也无法产生巨额利润。The result was that Apple avoided tax on almost all the profit generated from its multi-billion euro sales of iPhones and other products across the EU’s single market. 由此，苹果在欧盟单一市场销售亿万欧元的iPhone和其他产品，扣除利润完全都以求洗钱。It booked the profits in Ireland rather than the country in which the product was sold.公司将盈利算入爱尔兰的业务部门，而非产品的实际销售国。

Apple and Ireland said they intend to appeal against the ruling.苹果公司和爱尔兰回应，他们将就这一判决明确提出裁决。The figure of Euro13bn plus interest is 40 times the previous record for such a case and the equivalent of the annual budget for Ireland’s health service. 130亿欧元再行再加利息，调补税额已约此前同类判决中最低金额的40倍，与爱尔兰公共医疗卫生服务的年度预算非常。Irish campaigners called for the windfall to be invested in public housing.爱尔兰的活动家们声援将这笔车祸之财用作公共住房项目。

The taxable profits of Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe did not correspond to economic reality, the commission said.欧盟委员会称之为，苹果国际销售公司和苹果欧洲运营公司的应纳税利润与其实际盈利相符。Vestager said: The commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.维斯塔格说道：委员会的调查找到，爱尔兰给与苹果公司的非法税收优惠，使苹果多年来比其他公司较少交纳了许多税金。Vestager suggested other countries, including the US, might now examine how Apple did business within their borders. These other jurisdictions might then claim a share of the unpaid tax from Apple for the same period. 维斯塔格回应，现在，还包括美国在内的其他国家或可审查苹果在其境内的业务，也许也能追收苹果该时期内少缴的税款。

This would reduce the bill owed to Ireland.那么苹果补缴给爱尔兰的金额则不会增加。Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said the commission was rewriting Apple’s record in Ireland, overriding Irish law and disrupting the international tax system. 苹果掌门人库克称之为，欧盟委员会正在重写苹果在爱尔兰的历史，它凌驾于爱尔兰法律之上并妨碍了国际税收制度。He said Apple chose the Irish city of Cork as its European base 30 years ago and had expanded from 60 workers to almost 6,000 in Ireland.他说道，苹果公司30年前自由选择了爱尔兰的科克作为其欧洲总部，在爱尔兰的员工数量也从60人发展至近6000人。He said Apple would appeal and that he was confident of winning.他回应苹果将不会裁决且有信心获得胜利。

Cook said: We never asked for, nor did we receive, any special deals. 库克说道：我们未曾拒绝，也未曾拒绝接受过任何类似协议。We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don’t owe them any more than we’ve already paid.现在却发现自己陷于异乎寻常的处境，被拒绝向政府补缴额外税款。

而政府说道，我们税金已缴，什么也不不出他们。The commission’s decision is a rebuff to US efforts to persuade it to drop the case after warnings of retaliation from Washington.美国此前已收到背叛警告，企图让欧盟不去追究责任苹果纳税一案，而欧盟委员会的这一裁决是对美国表达意见的有力断然拒绝。Apple, which changed its tax arrangements with Ireland in 2015, should easily be able to pay the huge tax bill because it has a cash mountain of more than $230bn (￡176bn) of cash and securities, mostly held outside the US. 苹果于2015年改动了与爱尔兰的税收协议。鉴于其坐拥多达2300亿美元（1760亿英镑）的现金和证券，苹果缴纳天价税款轻而易举。

The tech group keeps the money outside the US because it would be forced to pay US tax charges if it repatriated the money.这家科技公司将资金储放到美国之外。因为资金一旦流往国内，就被迫分担美国的赋税。

The Euro13bn figure covers only the 10 years before the commission first requested information in 2013. 欧盟委员会2013年开始对苹果展开调查，这130亿欧元只涵括了此前10年的未缴税款。The commission, which does not have the authority to go back any further, said it was up to Ireland to collect the tax from Apple.无权再行向前追溯到的委员会回应，向苹果收税一事各不相同爱尔兰政府。The Irish government, however, wants the ruling reversed because it wants to preserve its status as a low-tax base for overseas companies.然而爱尔兰政府也期望夺权判决，挽回自己较低税港湾的地位以更有海外公司。

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