European Union Accuses Ireland of Giving Apple Illegal State Aid with Tax Deals

The European Commission today announced the results of its formal investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland, accusing the company of receiving illegal state aid from the country, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In its findings, the regulatory body stated that deals between Apple and Ireland struck in 1991 and 2007 helped Irish authorities “confer a selective advantage upon Apple” that resulted in a lowering of its tax liability. The Commission also added that Apple’s increase in sales for its business in Ireland appear to be inconsistent when related to comparable operating costs that would come with growth. Furthermore, the Commission notes that there was a reported increase in “sales income” by 415%, but states that most of the profit-generating work was done elsewhere.

Accordingly, the Commission’s of the opinion that through those rulings the Irish authorities confer an advantage on Apple. That advantage is obtained every year and on-going, when the annual tax liability is agreed upon by the tax authorities in view of that ruling.

Apple’s tax policies have been questioned on numerous occasions throughout the past few years, as the company is said to utilize multiple subsidiary companies located in the Irish city of Cork to move money around without significant tax penalties. This in due in part to an exemption in the region’s law, which allows companies that are managed abroad but located in Ireland to be exempt from taxes. CEO Tim Cook defended the company’s tax practices in 2013, calling for a tax reform and simplified corporate tax policies along with lower rates for repatriation.

Apple and the Irish government will now have one month to respond to the findings published in the Commission’s reports, as the case will likely take up to 18 months to reach a conclusion. In addition to its findings regarding Apple and Ireland, the European Commission also announced that it is investigating state aid cases involving coffee company Starbucks and car maker Fiat and their arrangements with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, respectively.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

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EU says Apple’s Irish tax deal is illegal

An EU commission has accused Ireland of granting “state aid” tax breaks to Apple that may break market rules. That was the result of an investigation by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over Irish deals brokered in 1991 and 2007. It has now asked Ireland to provide more information about its tax arrangements with Apple and other companies, including Fiat and Starbucks. The OECD also looking into Luxembourg and the Netherlands as part of a larger probe to find out if certain EU nations help multinational companies swerve taxes. At 12.5 percent, Ireland has a lower tax rate than any other EU country, and Cupertino’s complex tax deals there have been questioned before. As the US Senate saw recently, shuffling money around countries helps Apple avoid nearly $20 million a day in taxes — and the EU seems to have a dimmer view of its strategy than the SEC did.

[Image credit: pieceoplastic/Flickr]

Filed under: Misc, Apple

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Source: European Commission

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Apple Watch makes first public appearance at Paris Fashion Week

Colette is one of those ultra-hip Paris shops that may tempt you with its eclectic toys, clothing, tech and art — until you see the prices. For Fashion Week in Paris, it’s about to have a shiny new bauble: the Apple Watch. The store has announced a one-day only preview of the 1.53- or 1.33-inch wearable so that le public can see it for the first time. So far, only the press have glimpsed it, though we couldn’t try any functions since it was just running a demo program. Apple told us that it’ll be a strictly look-but-don’t-touch event, with no new details — and there’s no word if Colette will actually sell it yet. If you happen to be in Paris though, you can see it now in it the fancy window display (which resembles the Watch interface) or brave the crowds in the store starting at 11:00 AM.

[Image credit: Papasoey/Instagram]

Filed under: Wearables, Apple

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Via: 9 to 5 Mac

Source: Colette

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Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus coming to China on October 17th

Apple has finally revealed the date that its new iPhones will be available to eager users in mainland China: Friday, October 17th. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will go on pre-order there starting October 10th, with units available a week later at Apple Stores and all three major carriers. The devices will support TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, meaning 4G speeds will be available to users at China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. So far, the lack of availability has meant extortionate prices for smuggled models, though there’s been an alarming lack of demand in the gray market. But at least Chinese Apple fans will largely avoid the parade of early iOS 8 bugs.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Apple

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Apple to Launch iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China on Friday, October 17

Apple has announced that it will be begin selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning Friday, October 17. The devices will be available through Apple’s online store and retail locations in China and will also be sold at China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom stores. Customers in China will be able to pre-order the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning Friday, October 10.

“We are thrilled to bring iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to our customers in China on all three carriers at launch,” said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. “With support for TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers will have access to high-speed mobile networks from China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom for an incredible experience.”

Earlier today, it was revealed that Apple had received the final license needed to start iPhone 6 sales in China. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched in the first wave of countries on September 19, and was made available to more countries last Friday, September 26. Apple revealed on September 22 that it had sold ten million units of both phones in its opening weekend, breaking the previous record of nine million units set by the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last year.

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iOS 8.1 Carries Hidden Settings for Apple Pay, References Touch ID Support for iPad

The first beta of iOS 8.1 seeded earlier today has not yet revealed a significant number of changes visible to regular users, but developer Hamza Sood has managed to uncover several interesting hidden settings and strings from the new version.

First, Sood shares a screenshot of a hidden Settings pane for Apple Pay inside. The pane will allow users to manage their entered credit and debit cards linked to Apple Pay, as well as define their default card, billing and shipping address, email, and phone.

The Settings screen for Apple Pay also links to a privacy disclosure outlining how the user’s card and device information and location may be sent back to Apple and perhaps passed on to the card issuer to determine eligibility and detect possible fraud.

Apple Pay will allow users to easily authenticate payments to their preferred credit and debit cards, using NFC for point-of-sale transactions with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and Apple Watch while also allowing for Touch ID-based authentication of purchase transactions in apps supporting Apple Pay. Apple has announced that Apple Pay will be launching in October, and iOS 8.1 is likely to be the update carrying that support, but the company has not yet flipped the switch to broadly enable it in this first developer seed.

While Apple has so far only announced that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and Apple Watch will be compatible with Apple Pay, Sood has also turned up evidence suggesting next-generation iPad models will include Touch ID support and Apple Pay. The evidence comes in the form of a code string addressing support for the services:

Pay with iPad using Touch ID. With Apple Pay, you no longer need to type card numbers and shipping information.

It is unclear whether the upcoming iPads will include NFC technology for point-of-sale transactions or if Apple Pay support on the iPad will be limited to app-based transactions, but Apple’s upcoming iPad have been widely rumored to see the addition of Touch ID.

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Apple Receives Second and Final License Needed to Start iPhone 6 Sales in China [iOS Blog]

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has given Apple the second and final regulatory license it needs to begin selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China, reports Reuters. Apple received the first regulatory license from the Chinese government earlier this month, and it is now likely that both new handsets will launch in the country soon.

A supposed internal memo addressed to Apple retail employees in China spotted yesterday stated that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus would go on sale starting October 10. The iPhone 6 originally launched in the first wave of countries on September 19, and was made available in additional countries last Friday, September 26.

Apple will likely be selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus through China’s three biggest wireless carriers, which include China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. Apple is one year into its deal with China Mobile, as CEO Tim Cook stated last year that he was “incredibly optimistic” about the partnership and how it would help Apple grow its presence in the region.

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Apple Watch Being Displayed at Colette Boutique in Paris

Ahead of an event planned for tomorrow in conjunction with Apple, Parisian fashion boutique Colette appears to be preparing to show off the Apple Watch at its boutique on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. Various photos on Twitter and Instagram show the location displaying the Apple Watch prominently, with different variants of the device being placed in colored ovals.

(Image credit: papasoey via Instagram)
While it is not known as to what exactly will be shown off at Colette’s event tomorrow, hints from the invitation flyer suggest that the Apple Watch will be the highlight. Colette has also been known to be very selective of what makes it into their flagship location, and it is likely that a collaboration with Apple is part of an initiative by the Cupertino company to push its wearable device as a fashionable item.

(Image credit: @JeromeRoussin on Twitter)
Apple is said to be targeting an early 2015 for the Apple Watch, however reported hardware problems may push it back until February 2015 or later. The device will be available in three collections, including a high-end Edition collection which boasts an 18-karat gold enclosure and sapphire crystal display.

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All iCloud Services Down for Some Users

Apple’s iCloud appears to be down for some users, with many people reporting issues logging into iCloud.com and accessing iCloud content like Mail, Calendar, and Notes.

According to Apple’s System Status Page, all iCloud services and features are entirely inaccessible for some users, with the outage starting just after 3 PM Pacific Time. The downtime comes just after Apple released an iOS 8.1 update to developers and following news of a significant iCloud Drive bug that causes documents to be deleted when “Reset All Settings” is used on an iOS 8 devices.

Apple has not provided a timeline for when access to iCloud services might be restored, but the issue appears to be affecting just a portion of iCloud users, as others are reporting no problems at all.

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