Apparently this is backlash for the US charging VW so much.

WOW...that is A LOT of money....geesh

Neh, considering the margins Apple makes with all of their products, they will probably make it all back as soon as the iphone 7 launches.

Still, that is quite a hefty fine.

Good. Scummy tax dodging is a horrible practice and I hope more measures are taken internationally to prevent it.

Reality is I doubt it is paid lol

So the EU is coming after tax havens now?

The EU was happy as a clam with the arrangement for 20 years. They ran into financial problems and went looking for cash. The "rules" should've been enforced years ago, but I guess if they did it years ago they wouldn't have been able to ask for 10+ billions and Apple (+google+MS) would've taken their business elsewhere.

This does seem like the old "bait and switch" with Ireland promising tax relief for jobs and then the EU coming in YEARS later and saying, "Wait a minute Ireland - You cannot do that!"

Anyhow, This will be in the courts on for at least a decade. Both Apple and Ireland have already announced appeals.

Also, I read that Ireland is required, under the terms of its post-crash financial bailout programme from the EU, to use any one-off financial windfall, such as this 13b , to pay down debt to other EU countries. So Ireland doesn't really gain from this, and will probably suffer in the future if Apple and other multinationals located in the country decide to scale back their operations in the country.

Better late than never. This will also set a precedent that will make it much harder for the EU to ignore these cases in the future. Ireland has been giving Apple a huge competetive edge by giving them special tax rules that are different from the other companies in Ireland. Too bad for them if their shady deals in the past get consequences now.

The thing is there is no real thing as shady tax tricks.

Its government that allows the rules to be used.

So imo I would expect business to go to low tax path and its government job to ensure correct tax policy.

When Apple first set up in Ireland, Ireland wasn't a member of the EU. The original deal wasn't illegal when first set up. I am unsure why Ireland or the EU didn't press the issue sooner, but "scummy" and "shady" don't mean much when these practices remain legal. If the issue was pressed sooner, Apple (and many others) would've taken their business somewhere else sooner.