This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Italian Authorities 'Raid' Apple HQ After $1.4bn Tax Fraud Allegations
Milan prosecutors ordered the seizure of a substantial batch of computer and telephone equipment from Apple's Italian HQ as part of an investigation into allegations of a one billion euro tax fraud. As L'Espresso reports, the allegations surround false representation of accounting records (EUR206mm in 2010 and EUR853mm in 2011) which were recorded by the Irish entity 'Apple Sales International' but, Italian authorities suggest were services rendered for business carried out in Italy. Beyond this investigation, it seems the growing tax divergences (and loopholes) that we have previously discussed (such as the Double Irish) are becoming a key focus for an increasingly cash-strapped European periphery (among others).
Via (Google Translate) L'Espresso,
The amounts deducted from the Italian tax authorities, according to initial investigations, it would be very relevant. If the investigative hypotheses are confirmed, Apple would have underestimated Italy of approximately EUR 206 million taxable income in 2010 of more than 853 million as of the 2011 tax year, based on a false representation of the accounting records and using fraudulent means thesis to hinder the investigation.
In practice, in the two years at issue so far, Apple would have concealed from the tax authorities a billion...
...
According to the accusation, the profits made ??in Italy by Apple were recorded by the Irish company Apple Sales International, following a scheme widely used in other multinational hi-tech and Internet, Google in the first place, due to which these groups fail to pay taxes on their laughable huge profits by taking advantage of a set of rules into Irish law which, recently, have been under observation by the European Union.
On the basis of these findings the deputy prosecutor charge of the investigation Adriano Squires, coordinated dall'aggiunto Francesco Greek, ordered the seizure of a substantial batch of computer equipment and telephone, after a search that took place at the headquarters of Apple in the Piazza San Babila in Milan, in order to find evidence of fraud once the material will be analyzed.
...
The hypothesis is that Apple upstream Italy not only deal with channel support to sales and service and ancillary services to Irish society, but the real heart of the business carried out in Italy. In other words it is that there is a stable organization well concealed behind that light which is instead indicated by Apple.
...
Looking beyond the single investigation, one can not but notice how the pressure to grow, even in Italy, to those architectures that enable corporate transnational corporations - and the technology are in the eye of the storm - to free themselves from the bulk of the taxation income from. And as also in this case again with tumbling force the Irish question in the fight circumvention of the rules of the Italian tax authorities, and not only.
We can't wait to hear what the Irish think...
»
- 9487 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Apple $1,000...we hardly knew ye.
This is great for the US, once the US corp. realize that they either risk losing all their outside money by desparite gov. like Argentina, Venezuala, Italy, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal et al or the bring thier ill gotten gains back and pay thier fair share like the rest of us are forced to. Fuck EM I hope APPL loses the billion in italy and the billions in ireland
By they are job creators!* We can't tax them or they will stop creating jobs!*
*in China
Apple is a great job creator, just not in the US. Speaking of jobs, I await to see the number of people in Italy employed by Apple in about two years time.
The purpose of Apple is not to create jobs, it's to make and sell products, which all the sheep love to buy. Sheep hate paying too much for things their entitled to, even if those things are made locally. Creating Jobs seems to be the govts role in this centrally planned economy.
There was a really good book about that. Maybe you heard of it..... :)'
Ain't no such thing as a fair share taken by force.
No business should pay taxes and maybe the stupid sheeple will realize they shouldn't either. After all, you get about a nickel's worth of value for every dollar of taxes paid.
It took 100 years to devalue the dollar by 95%, every year the taxpayer's earnings are devalued by at least 40%. Sheeple are such smart businessmen.
I have a good idea. Let's take money through taxation from the private sector, so the Gov can give it back to the private sector to "stimulate" the economy. Of their selective friends of course, that's Keynesian/socialist economics. Besides, " fair share" is a socialist meme, the 3rd World also wants it's "fair share" of this globalism.
I predict that AAPL will be worth 1,000,000 Italian Lira by the end of 2014.
"We are just trying to get to the core of the issue..."
seems legit
And so it begins...
Beat me to it!
Currency manipulation. Trade wars. As I predicted some time ago, expect a full ramp on the "We're Bringing Back Our Jobs" parade... be prepared to shell out tax dollars to "thank" all the fine companies who offshored for their commitment to coming home and...
Globalization is an abject failure for 99.9% of humanity. As the scheme of funneling all the wealth to the .01% and leaving the rest of us with a pile of debt starts to unravel, we will indeed see more effort to take it back. Unfortunately, those efforts themselves will be designed to further enrich a few at the top and then those efforts will be blamed for the ensuing storm, instead of the root problem of globalization and financialization of Western economies.
Globalization is an abject failure for established western economies and its here to stay. The clock has been ticking too long, several decades in fact, to roll it back now.
Government has been an abject failure for 99.9% of humanity for all of its existence.
Globalization is a symptom, not a cause.
That was my thought exactly, Slaughterer.
The largest sized low-hanging fruit is always picked first....
Ireland, a fellow PIIG, will thank Italy for finding some additional tax revenues.
Why doesn't this US do this for our corporate pigs?! Fuckers all in bed together.
Over.
That should be the NSA's major profit line.
Because the US is a Corporatocracy with the illusion of being a Republic/Democracy and has been for quite some time now
so is this when we find out if all of the lobbying and bribes will pay off as more and more countries ransack cash cow corporations? stay tuned
American companies, like say... Apple, wouldn't go overseas to avoid paying US taxes, and then... somehow skimp out on paying another country the taxes they owed, now would they? I mean, you would expect a criminal to hide money overseas, and then not pay the place they hid the money their fair share of tax money, that they moved in order not to pay taxes on it, would you? / sarcasm off.
This is one of those fights where there are no good guys.
What a joke. These asshole take the bribes to write the loopholes, and now they are going to extort the companies that use them. This is what happens when you sell your soul to the devil. Wouldn't it be easier to tell a banker to go fuck himself?
"I am altering the deal. Pray that I don't alter it any further."
Darth Cheney ?
I bet it was Bunga Bunga calling in his thugs cause Apple isn't helping him now that he's less useful to them.
It must be appreciated for the act of desperation that it is. Globally, Apple has a lot more power and influence than the Italian government.
Apple is actually a special case, so I would wait pass judgement until more details come out. Apple basically took the notion of "stateless persons" and tried to apply it to juristic persons. If the Italians are trying to shake dollars out of the self-described stateless corporate entity... (i.e. a corporation not subject to any national jurisdiction) more power to them.
Actually if Apple is using fraudulent accounting that means there are no loopholes, they're simply breaking the law by lying to the taxman.
Guess it's the "Big fat corp with more revenue than a country's GDP so it's management thinks they can do whatever they want law or no law" effect. Interestingly, if it was indeed fraud, them some people might end up in jail.
Usually, in Italy, they start asking for 100 and, statistically, end obtaining 2.
The GdF, when inspecting someone, start throwing the book on everything could be vaguely sanctioned, then the people (with deep pockets) send their lawyers and after a long, draw down battle in tribunal they end innocent or paying a pittance of the original request of the prosecutors.
Usually, in Italy, they start asking for 100 and, statistically, end obtaining 2.
The GdF, when inspecting someone, start throwing the book on everything could be vaguely sanctioned, then the people (with deep pockets) send their lawyers and after a long, draw down battle in tribunal they end innocent or paying a pittance of the original request of the prosecutors.
This little snafu will just mean a bigger bribe and lobbying budget...
Wake me up when China does this.
They already do dude. It's just not classified as taxation as much as it is bribery.
Taking a byte of the Apple, are they ?
' bout time Don Vito woke up ....shaking down the bars and restaurants is soooo 20th century.
Can't Apple buy Italy?
pods
just about ...the Vatican might be a stretch, tho .
Lucky the Vatican isn't in Italy then.
Dominus Vobiscum
After a 4 word comment why do you find it necessary to sign the name that is millimetres above the comment??
perhapse he is trying to trademark his posts for metacrawlers, yet doesnt quite know that they will hit on the name in the title anyways?
No, I'm just an asshole.
pods
(that one was 5 words, I'm geting better)
+1
Because he is not Chumbawamba.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana!"
StychoKiller
Because he lacks a fancy sign off routine such as. That signals the end of current communications.
Over.
Why does it bother you so much? What is the appropriate spacing that he should be allowed to have before he can sign off?
Dr. Engali
Heya Doc! I think this is a matter of a message board vote and then inform Pods of what he can and cannot type. There was a guy on ZH a couple of weeks ago that was literally telling people what they could and could not type. Just like that asshole that TOLD Will B. what political characters he should use to make his art. Thankfully both of them are gone.
I'm glad I missed them. Some people are unbelievable with the trivial shit they concern themselves with.
I had a 4yr plus Zhedger tell me what I could and could not type not too long ago. I saw Rocky Racoon set a whole thread straight last night after everyone missed the idea of what brought most of us here to begin with.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-12/peak-insanity-retail-investors-are-making-direct-subprime-loans-reach-yield
sometimes the basics get forgotten.
LMAO its the great "stop typing" defense!
My very young son now puts his hand over my mouth when I say the word "nap". Its all childish magical thinking: if you don't, or no one else doesn't, say it then it doesn't exist.
Rocky kicked some heavy ass in that thread. Clearly a lot of people wanted him to stop typing as well. I'm sorry I missed it.
That Jumbotron guy is fucking crazy.
It's a personalization. And in this day of algo-driven blogging it kind of adds back the "human" in to the mix (though who is to say "pods" isn't an algo :-) ). I say "whatever" as long as it's not hurting anyone.
It is the italicization that really turns me off.....
We should all conform.....
Sure, style can rub one the wrong way (I've even warned my siblings that "it's my style" and I'm not going to change that), but there so much to watch out for that I feel that it's better (for me anyway) to concentrate on substance...
I've got a good friend that MANY people cannot handle/take. She's just straight up, doesn't mix words. If you focus on this "style" you'll miss out on what a fountain of information she has to offer, as well as being an exceptional friend. I'm a bit more tuned after dealing with Dutch folks...
sarc
Italy is desperate for revenue and Apple has revenue. Watch all the shannigans get ratcheted up as the scramble for private money to fill public coffers begins in earnest.
Yes I think it's that simple. The worse the fiat hole gets, the more desperate governments get, and the more aggressive they get.
Sadly, it was public->private flow that started all this shit (taxpayers -> financials). Govts are broke. And, well... we'll start sucking the marrow until we realize that growth is no longer going to rescue us...
I-jacked.......
Yeah, there'll be an app for that.. iFed?
Coming to a USA near you soon.
USSA
When does the US wake up? So much of overseas technology "profits" are ripoffs of America - where the innovation and "value added" took place. The overseas shell companies, located in low tax countries, should be not just shut down, but the lawyers prosecuted just as Swiss Bankers have been.
Then the repatriation should be ordered after paying the US tax and legal penalty bill.
LOL, you incoherent statists are hilarious.
Did it ever occur to you that taxation is theft? And perhaps, if gangs d.b.a. "states" didn't steal from everyone, then there would be no effort needed to avoid it?
The icing on the cake? The idea that the world is a better place because of this system.
Keep voting, comrade! Keep right on voting.
And watch it all get much, much worse.
Not applicable
It's amazing. Steal from people and convince them that if you didn't steal from them, they would suffer.
It's like the inscription on the IRS building: "taxes are what we pay for a civilized society."
As if I was allowed to own property I would be uncivilized.
Not that I'd EVER defend "statists," but even "non-statists" don't get it that it's got little to do with "govts" as much as with "human nature."
Consider
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/yes-oil-prices-being-manipul...
I highly doubt that the absence of "taxes" (though, again, I'm not in any way defendint taxation- I defend only logic) would make stuff like this go away. Damned if you do, damned if you don't: attempt to provide regulation intended to maintain market rules and you get bought-off regulators; remove regulation and then these folks will go full bore (perhaps only expediting the complete and utter collapse).
P.S. I did not down-arrow you (not something I can recollect doing).
Thanks for posting that--interesting stuff. Be interesting to see how these lawsuites turn out.
You know that behind the scenes there's plenty of discussions about whether to accept being taken to court or be bought out.
Consolidation. I think that this kind of thing has happened in the past. Anti-trust laws came, and then... What's old is once again new... At some point, however, the washing machine has no more "rinse" cycles in its life...
Roman candle econmics. Exactly how is this so different from Venezula's looting-by-government-fiat, except that the Italian moucher-class aren't allowing the little guy a slice of the plasma-tv?
Is Venezuela's economy controlled by the EU?
As a "person", shouldn't Apple be taxed on worldwide earnings like US citizens get taxed? And shouldn't Apple be required to get a platinum health plan?
So when does Ireland go bust again?
Yesterday.
Could not happen to a nicer Multinational Corporation that ships jobs to China.
I guess Apple did not pay enough lobbying money... bad choice
There are no specific rules governing lobbyists in the Italian parliament.A supplemental protection payment didn't get dropped...
Isn't there an APP for that?
And the parents start eating their children.
In the same way that companies treat their employees like shit, countries are starting to treat their companies like shit.
Companies always treated any TAX agency like shit, so that goes without saying.
Society, of all sorts, unraveling will accelerate. I like it!
Digging it. Entropy is the shits. LMFAO
Not thinking that I'm going to laugh at suffering (no tears for any dying vultures for sure). I WILL, however, laugh at human hubris.
Mother Nature bats last. She'll be sending up Entropy ("who" has a 1,000% batting ave). So, before this happens we'll continue to play the game and beat each other with bats...
BULLISH !
this is out of pure WB7 type satire : Imagine Berlu crying "thief thief" and pointing to bad Apple.
Well, when thieves fall out, it gets funnily ugly.
"I want my money back and I'll never sell to an Italian".
If Apple ever says that the political class in Euro zone collapses from heart failure.
"NOOOO, its only to soothe the ruffled skins of the sheeple; don't goooooo! Its smoke n mirrors; PROMISE."
Oligarchs and corrupt statists will shoot it out, if ever this gets ugly like a true false bail-in.
Life is getting dangerous for the 0.01%.
hahaha.
Here's a perfect example of WTF:
Fromhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-13/emerging-market-banks-threatene...
THOSE bad loans will be bad if we don't create even BIGGER BAD LOANS (to ourselves)! "Ben/Janet, PLEASE keep PRINTING!"
Xerox: "You didn't build that!"
+1 for knowing who invented the mouse :)
And ParKPlace "invented" the GUI.
Let us not forget that they also invented the GUI (graphic user interface) then gave it away to anyone who wanted to use it since they thought it was worthless... Of course APPL tried to claim a patent right to that since they were the first to use it, been claiming other peoples products are theirs ever since.
Steve Jobs never designed a thing in his life, but he liked putting his signature at the bottom of the page.
Who knows...next someone will figure out that the FED is only interested in making billions for the banks that own it! Apple sells that "we are good" sham really well as does Google.
There are no profits. Just 1's and 0's created on a computer and spat out to match whatever The Street wants.
The entire reported economy was conjured out of thin air. It ain't real folks. The problem is this fake economy to enrich Wall Street insiders has real world repercussions. Like doubling the cost of base resources for the real economy.
I know how much my company really made and I know how many actual units were sold to end consumers. I know that with real sales down 30% we still manged to be one of the top 5 checked out products at five major big box retailers in 2013 so far. Nike supposedly sells billions of dollars a year right? Then how come they don't have an item that beats out a company that sells $100 million gross retail? Ever wonder why there is so much Nike inventory at a store like Dick's? Ever wonder how all of it gets sold? The answer is that it doesn't. But all of that inventory is booked as sold by Nike, and it makes their sales look like they went up. It makes Nike's stock go up, which makes Ed Stack happy because he owns Nike stock.
Wall Street will have you believe sales are up, but that is impossible if checked out percentages of inventory are down. Sure reported sales from publicly traded companies to other publicly traded companies may be up, but it's all channel stuffing bullshit.
Like In Good Company, "Check it, cross promotional opportunity. I'll buy advertising in your magazine and then you sell me magazine subscriptions to put with my product. We both win."
Very few corporations actually make money, but they make it look like they make money. That was readily apparent when mark to market was active. Corporations went from billion dollar powerhouses to bankrupt overnight. Then they suspend mark to market accounting and they go back to making billions in less than one quarter, AMAZING!!!!
Apple plays the game well. But recently they have cost some very powerful people a lot of money. When you lose powerful people money, you find that they aren't your friends anymore. Perhaps you find that they grant the loopholes and protection you once had to your competitor. During the period where you lost the powerful people money, your competitor made them loads of it.
"But all of that inventory is booked as sold by Nike, and it makes their sales look like they went up. It makes Nike's stock go up, which makes Ed Stack happy because he owns Nike stock."
Kind of like in the communist countries where they were compelled to create numbers in order to make "quota." I recall anecdotals from the USSR about the reporting of completions of factories but when going to the supposed site there was NOTHING. "They pretend to pay us so we pretend to work," was an "interesting" saying...
Anyway, the ONLY way that BIG manages is because it can corral bulk deliveries, and it's big bulk that gives them any shot at showing some viability. Smaller entities cannot get the price breaks on such raw inputs, in which case there's no chance of really competing head-to-head: the only way is via less marketing costs, which then kind of makes it tougher to brainwash the consuming masses in one's favor. Sigh...
I've looked at so much stuff from the vantage point of TOTAL EROEI and I'm convinced that all that we do is net negative, that there really isn't such a thing as "profits" (well, for individuals and the handful of shareholders yes, but not on the whole). I'm afraid that the entire paradigm is far more suspect than we're willing to accept...
Looks like another Guardian type of deal. They seized (looted) computer hardware because of the margins made off the apps and content? It's fraud I tell you! See! We have the computer the booked the profits on! Haha
It's really the nation state figuring out that it's obsolete. It's an Irish subsidiary that owns cloud servers all over the world. This just a country trying to declare that the taxable event occurs in their fiefdom because one of its slaves bought an app.
Apple will win this one. The Italian government seized what? A few laptops and some cellphones? Remotely Deny access to the devices and laugh at them.
Mafia driven Italy??? of all the fucked up places in Europe ,do it in IRELAND APPLE! Theres no reputation to fix in ITALY!
How profitable is Apple/Google if they were forced to pay taxes just like normal domestic industry? Seems to me that you'd have to cut earnings by 30-40%. Throw in a revulsion to advertising (or at least paying for it since there is little evidence that online advertising provides the claimed results), and you could see some real loss of value in these phones.
I bet Apple has a mic in every single political office/party in italy, they could fuck up the govt 9ways to Sunday with exposure, or denial of service or both and moving from there to more proactive measures, like providing road maps to corrupt party officials with interactive media including bribery clips, extortion clips and treason clips.
Apple has the potential to be a bad ass police state mafia gang mofo, this is bullish for Apple, bearish for italy.