Apple used ‘secret bolthole in Jersey to avoid taxes’, Panorama paradise papers special reveals
After the US tech giant stated publicly in 2013 that it was paying its proper share of taxes, it moved the bulk of its untaxed overseas cash to the Channel Islands
APPLE shifted a load of of its offshore wealth to the Channel Islands in the face of a tax crackdown in Ireland, according to Panorama's Paradise Papers special.
After the US tech giant stated publicly in 2013 that it was paying its proper share of taxes, it moved the bulk of its untaxed overseas cash to Jersey, reported.
Before 2014, the California-based firm had taken advantage of tax rules to route overseas revenue through Irish subsidiaries to minimise taxes.
As Apple came under pressure in the US and Europe about what was called the "double Irish" scheme it enlisted offshore finance law firm Appleby to find a new place to stash cash out of reach of tax collectors, according to reporting.
The iPhone makers settled on Jersey, a UK dependency, which had a tax rate of zero for foreign companies, reports indicated.
Emails mentioned in the programme showed the Silicon Valley Goliath wanted the arrangement kept secret.
Apple is now facing an EU demand for some $14.5 billion in taxes based on a ruling that its tax structure in Ireland amounted to illegal state aid.
The law firm Appleby was cited as the source of much of the leaked financial data that has resulted in searing revelations in recent days.
Apple told the BBC it remained the world's largest taxpayer, paying about £26bn in corporation tax over the past three years and that it had followed the law.
The papers also revealed sportswear giant Nike used a loophole in Dutch fiscal law to reduce its tax rate in Europe to just two percent.
Two companies based in the Netherlands concentrated all Nike's European revenues, allowing the company to avoid paying tax on "profits in the countries where it actually sells its shoes," French daily said.
The findings have emerged as part of the Paradise Papers released late Sunday by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind similar leak last year of the Panama Papers.
According to the report on Nike, the sportswear manufacturer managed to bring its tax on profits down to two percent from the 25 percent average for European companies.
To carry out this "tour de force", Nike used the Dutch fiscal system "and its immense possibilities for optimisation," said Le Monde.
Under this system, set up in 2014, Nike paid itself for the right to use its brand and artificially reduced its profits thus reducing also its taxes, according to the report.
The system was so effective that it reduced Nike's global tax rate "from 24 percent to 16 percent in three years," and European countries are asking the Netherlands to make up the shortfall, the paper said.
There was no indication that Nike had done anything illegal and the company, when contacted by Le Monde, said it acted in accordance with fiscal law
The documents show details of offshore deals involving a US cabinet member, a fundraiser for Canada's prime minister, Queen Elizabeth II and others.
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