苹果面临欧洲最大税收罚单

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

　　苹果(Apple)将在周二接到欧洲最大的税收罚单，此前布鲁塞尔裁定该公司得到了爱尔兰的非法政府援助。

　　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.

　　苹果将必须向都柏林补交数十亿欧元税款。目前欧盟委员会(European Commission)正采取行动，对全球各大企业的激进避税行为重新划定红线。

　　A 130-page judgment¹ by the commission follows a three-year investigation² into claims that two advance tax opinions issued by Dublin violated EU law by granting Apple an advantage not available to other companies.

　　在有人指控爱尔兰政府发布的两项预先税务意见给了苹果一个其他公司不具有的优势、违反欧盟法律之后，欧盟委员会展开了为期三年的调查后，最终出炉130页的判决书。

　　Competition commissioner³ Margrethe Vestager circulated the final ruling to her counterparts in the EU’s executive branch only on Monday morning, deploying⁴ a fast-track procedure in a bid to minimise leaks.

　　欧盟竞争专员玛格丽特?维斯特格(Margrethe Vestager)周一上午向欧盟行政部门的同僚传达了最终裁决，采用快速通道程序以最大限度减少消息泄露。

　　The usual notice period is two weeks.

　　一般通知期应为两个星期。

　　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.

　　该决定势必引发苹果和爱尔兰在欧洲法院提起上诉，二者都否认有任何不当行为。

　　It follows tension over the inquiry⁵ between Brussels and the US, which urged the EU authorities to drop the case.

　　布鲁塞尔和美国之间围绕这起调查关系紧张，美国促使欧盟当局放弃该案。

　　The US Treasury⁶ 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.

　　美国财政部指责欧盟委员会成为超国家税务机关，其杜绝激进避税的努力威胁到国际税改协议。

　　The commission’s ruling calls on Dublin to raise a new tax assessment⁷ on Apple, which previously⁸ warned the US Securities and Exchange Commission that an adverse⁹ decision by Brussels could have a material impact on its finances.

　　欧盟委员会的裁决呼吁都柏林对苹果发出新的税单，此前苹果曾警告美国证券交易委员会(SEC)，布鲁塞尔方面作出的对其不利的裁决可能对其财务产生实质性影响。

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

　　该调查的一位知情人表示，这一判决将导致苹果必须重新申报自己的账目。

　　Investigators¹⁰ 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.

　　调查人员审查了苹果是如何缴付不到欧洲销售额1%的税率，远低于爱尔兰对商业利润征收12.5%的正式税率。

　　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.

　　欧盟委员会正专注于苹果知识产权资产的税务待遇，这是一个备受争议的领域，很可能导致苹果被要求补缴大量欠税。

　　Although the decision itself does not specify¹¹ 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.

　　虽然裁决本身并未具体规定确切的罚款金额，但听取了有关她的计划的简报的人士表示，维斯特格将在周二调查结果公布时给出一个估计数字。

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

　　在布鲁塞尔和都柏林听取了调查结果简报的多位人士相信，罚款将达到数十亿欧元。

　　European officials have described the looming¹² recovery order as the largest since Brussels was empowered to police state support to companies in Europe.

　　欧洲官员将即将出炉的追缴令形容为自布鲁塞尔被授权监督在欧企业获得的国家支持以来的最大一笔罚款。

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

　　此前接到最大罚单的是法国电力(EDF)，它被要求补缴14亿欧元。

1 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

12 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望