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0 pointslifeisstillgood10y ago0 comments

That's not free trades problem - that's this problem

Apple sells a million iPhones in Europe and now has a billion Euros in bank accounts in 23 countries. Which of the following statements is true:

Apple is a US company so USA should get the tax on that billion

Apple has the money in a German bank account so Germany gets to tax it first

Apple used sales people in Ireland to take the order on the phone, so Irish gov gets to tax it

Ten thousand iPhones were sold to Dutch citizens and shipped from France to NL. By a UK shipper. We all want a cut

It's a total fucking mess is what it is. In fact it reminds me of the BBC podcast Infinite Monkey Cage on race just now where the biologists just went "can we not use the word race, it is totally meaningless"

I suspect if you find a tax lawyer they have a similar view in "nation state" "soverignty" and "tax revenues"

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MrTonyD10y ago

I think the problem can be simplified. Apple and Steve hid the bulk of their wealth from all taxation (I have personal knowledge of this being true.) So figuring out what they are hiding and how they are hiding it is the first issue to solve. Once the numbers are clear, then it becomes possible to decide policy. The policy might be that if a company wants to sell in the US then it must employ in the US and pay taxes in the US or face sanctions (there are lots of ways to restrict sales and marketing of products. There are many channels and product lines.)

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