蘋果面臨歐洲最大稅收罰單

Apple will on Tuesday be hit with Europe’s largest tax penalty after Brussels ruled that the company received illegal state aid from Ireland.

蘋果(Apple)將在週二接到歐洲最大的稅收罰單，此前布魯塞爾裁定該公司得到了愛爾蘭的非法政府援助。

The company will have to pay billions of euro in back taxes to Dublin as the European Commission moves to redraw the boundaries on aggressive tax avoidance by the world’s biggest corporations.

蘋果將必須向都柏林補交數十億歐元稅款。目前歐盟委員會(European Commission)正採取行動，對全球各大企業的激進避稅行爲重新劃定紅線。

A 130-page judgment by the commission follows a three-year investigation into claims that two advance tax opinions issued by Dublin violated EU law by granting Apple an advantage not available to other companies.

在有人指控愛爾蘭政府發佈的兩項預先稅務意見給了蘋果一個其他公司不具有的優勢、違反歐盟法律之後，歐盟委員會展開了爲期三年的調查後，最終出爐130頁的判決書。

Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager circulated the final ruling to her counterparts in the EU’s executive branch only on Monday morning, deploying a fast-track procedure in a bid to minimise leaks.

歐盟競爭專員瑪格麗特•維斯特格(Margrethe Vestager)週一上午向歐盟行政部門的同僚傳達了最終裁決，採用快速通道程序以最大限度減少消息泄露。

The usual notice period is two weeks.

一般通知期應爲兩個星期。

The decision is set to be the subject of appeals in the European courts by Apple and Ireland, both of which have denied any wrongdoing.

該決定勢必引發蘋果和愛爾蘭在歐洲法院提起上訴，二者都否認有任何不當行爲。

It follows tension over the inquiry between Brussels and the US, which urged the EU authorities to drop the case.

布魯塞爾和美國之間圍繞這起調查關係緊張，美國促使歐盟當局放棄該案。

The US Treasury has accused the commission of becoming a supranational tax authority that threatened international agreements on tax reform in its drive to stamp out aggressive avoidance.

美國財政部指責歐盟委員會成爲超國家稅務機關，其杜絕激進避稅的努力威脅到國際稅改協議。

The commission’s ruling calls on Dublin to raise a new tax assessment on Apple, which previously warned the US Securities and Exchange Commission that an adverse decision by Brussels could have a material impact on its finances.

歐盟委員會的裁決呼籲都柏林對蘋果發出新的稅單，此前蘋果曾警告美國證券交易委員會(SEC)，布魯塞爾方面作出的對其不利的裁決可能對其財務產生實質性影響。

One person familiar with the inquiry said Apple will have to restate its accounts as a result of the ruling.

該調查的一位知情人表示，這一判決將導致蘋果必須重新申報自己的賬目。

Investigators have examined how Apple paid a tax rate of less than 1 per cent on European sales — far lower than Ireland’s headline 12.5 per cent tax rate on business profits.

調查人員審查了蘋果是如何繳付不到歐洲銷售額1%的稅率，遠低於愛爾蘭對商業利潤徵收12.5%的正式稅率。

The commission is concentrating on the tax treatment of Apple’s intellectual property assets, a hotly disputed area likely to lead to a large claim for back taxes.

歐盟委員會正專注於蘋果知識產權資產的稅務待遇，這是一個備受爭議的領域，很可能導致蘋果被要求補繳大量欠稅。

Although the decision itself does not specify the precise amount of money in play, Ms Vestager will set out an estimate when the findings are released on Tuesday, according to people briefed on her plans.

雖然裁決本身並未具體規定確切的罰款金額，但聽取了有關她的計劃的簡報的人士表示，維斯特格將在週二調查結果公佈時給出一個估計數字。

Several people briefed on the findings in Brussels and Dublin believe the liability will run to billions of euros.

在布魯塞爾和都柏林聽取了調查結果簡報的多位人士相信，罰款將達到數十億歐元。

European officials have described the looming recovery order as the largest since Brussels was empowered to police state support to companies in Europe.

歐洲官員將即將出爐的追繳令形容爲自布魯塞爾被授權監督在歐企業獲得的國家支持以來的最大一筆罰款。

The biggest penalty to date involved EDF, the French energy group, which was ordered to repay Euro1.4bn.

此前接到最大罰單的是法國電力(EDF)，它被要求補繳14億歐元。