EU Attack on Apple Is a Blatant Power Grab (Source thetrumpet.com)

The European Union is using Apple’s alleged tax avoidance to gain power, not just over American corporations, but in another major step toward becoming a superstate.

On August 30, the EU ordered Ireland to charge Apple €13 billion (US$14.6 billion) of back taxes.

The EU’s choice of target is smart. Corporate tax avoidance is a hot-button issue right now. And Apple’s setup looks pretty dodgy. Ninety percent of Apple’s non-U.S. profits are earned by subsidiaries based in Ireland but are technically not tax resident in any country at all. According to the EU Commission, in 2014 the company’s effective tax rate on its European earnings was 0.005 percent.

The European Commission is acting “arbitrarily, retroactively and beyond the rule of law,” wrote the Telegraph’s international business editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. “What is really going on—as often in EU affairs—is a complex political attack on multiple fronts.”

The EU is now in the absurd position of ordering the Irish government to collect taxes that the government doesn’t think needs to be collected. The EU is “overreaching their competence,” said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan. “The European treaties say the individual countries are responsible for taxation policy. This is an approach through the back door to try and influence tax policy through competition law.” Ireland has joined Apple in appealing the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It will almost certainly fail: the ECJ doesn’t bother with mundane things such as enforcing the law. It always rules in favor of more Europe.