They
reveal how Apple sidestepped a 2013 crackdown on its controversial
Irish tax practices by actively shopping around for a tax haven.
It then moved the firm holding most of its untaxed offshore cash, now $252bn, to the Channel Island of Jersey.
Apple said the new structure had not lowered its taxes.
It
said it remained the world's largest taxpayer, paying about $35bn
(£26bn) in corporation tax over the past three years, that it had
followed the law and its changes "did not reduce our tax payments in any
country".
In a further statement the company stressed that no operations or investments had been moved from Ireland.
The Paradise Papers is the name for a huge leak of financial documents that is throwing light on the world of offshore finance.
Up
until 2014, the tech company had been exploiting a loophole in tax laws
in the US and the Republic of Ireland known as the "double Irish".
This
allowed Apple to funnel all its sales outside of the Americas -
currently about 55% of its revenue - through Irish subsidiaries that
were effectively stateless for taxation purposes, and so incurred hardly
any tax.
Instead
of paying Irish corporation tax of 12.5%, or the US rate of 35%,
Apple's avoidance structure helped it reduce its tax rate on profits
outside of the US to the extent that its foreign tax payments rarely
amounted to more than 5% of its foreign profits, and in some years
dipped below 2%.
The European Commission calculated the rate of tax for one of Apple's Irish companies for one year had been just 0.005%.
Apple came under pressure in 2013 in the US Senate, when CEO Tim Cook was forced to defend its tax system.
Angry
that the US was missing out on a huge amount of tax, then-Senator Carl
Levin told him: "You shifted that golden goose to Ireland. You shifted
it to three companies that do not pay taxes in Ireland. These are the
crown jewels of Apple Inc. Folks, it's not right."
Mr
Cook responded defiantly: "We pay all the taxes we owe, every single
dollar. We do not depend on tax gimmicks... We do not stash money on
some Caribbean island."
Apple's questionnaire
After
the EU announced in 2013 that it was investigating Apple's Irish
arrangement, the Irish government decided that firms incorporated there
could no longer be stateless for tax purposes.
In
order to keep its tax rates low, Apple needed to find an offshore
financial centre that would serve as the tax residency for its Irish
subsidiaries.
In
March 2014, Apple's legal advisers sent a questionnaire to Appleby, a
leading offshore finance law firm and source of much of the Paradise
Papers leak.
It
asked what benefits different offshore jurisdictions - the British
Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Mauritius, the Isle of Man,
Jersey and Guernsey - could offer Apple.
The
document asked key questions such as was it possible to "obtain an
official assurance of tax exemption" and could it be confirmed that an
Irish company might "conduct management activities… without being
subject to taxation in your jurisdiction".
They
also asked whether a change of government was likely, what information
would be visible to the public and how easy it would be to exit the
jurisdiction.
Source document: Apple questionnaire (extract)
Leaked emails also make it clear that Apple wanted to keep the move secret.
One
email sent between senior partners at Appleby says: "For those of you
who are not aware, Apple [officials] are extremely sensitive concerning
publicity. They also expect the work that is being done for them only to
be discussed amongst personnel who need to know."
Apple
chose Jersey, a UK Crown dependency that makes its own tax laws and
which has a 0% corporate tax rate for foreign companies.
Paradise
Papers documents show Apple's two key Irish subsidiaries, Apple
Operations International (AOI), believed to hold most of Apple's massive
$252bn overseas cash hoard, and Apple Sales International (ASI), were
managed from Appleby's office in Jersey from the start of 2015 until
early 2016.
This would have enabled Apple to continue avoiding billions in tax around the world.
- Paradise Papers: All you need to know
Apple's
2017 accounts showed they made $44.7bn outside the US and paid just
$1.65bn in taxes to foreign governments, a rate of around 3.7%. That is
less than a sixth of the average rate of corporation tax in the world.
[BBC SOURCED]
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