PBS高端访谈:欧盟裁定苹果公司欠爱尔兰145亿美元的税款

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: The European Commission ruled today that Ireland must collect $14.5 billion in back taxes from Apple. The announcement fueled new tensions between the U.S. and Europe over the role of multinational¹ corporations, how they are taxed and whether it should be considered a subsidy².

　　The antitrust regulator for the EU said Ireland had given Apple a sweetheart tax deal for well over a decade, with special laws that effectively allowed Apple to pay less than 1 percent corporate³ tax. The EU accused Apple of setting up two companies in Ireland with a head office that only exists on paper. The profits from European stores all go to the Ireland head office and are essentially⁴ untaxed.

　　Apple said it would appeal the decision and denied the characterization. In a statement, the company's chief executive, Tim Cook, said the European Commission is trying to — quote — "rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process." The company has more than $200 billion in cash.

　　I spoke⁵ with Commissioner⁶ Margrethe Vestager, who announced the decision.

　　Ms. Vestager, thanks for joining us.

　　First off, what gave Apple an edge in Ireland that was unfair in the eyes of the EU?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER, European Commission: Well, we have a long longstanding prohibition⁷ of state aid, which means benefits, advantages to a selected company.

　　And that may come in any form, as a piece of land, a favorable loan, a grant or a tax benefit. And, of course, any member state can have their own tax legislation. We would never question that. But the thing is that you cannot give a specific company a benefit or an advantage which is not open to other companies.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Is there evidence that this was specific to Apple and not to all the other companies that are doing business in Ireland?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: Yes, it is.

　　This arrangement is due to two things which are none of our concern, how Apple is organized and the Irish tax legislation. But the thing that is specific is two tax rulings — are two tax rulings that are directed specifically to Apple.

　　And tax rulings are, by nature, specific because they are directed from the government or from the authorities to a specific company. And this is only for them. It is not for other companies.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: One of Apple's concerns today, in a call with reporters, the CFO said the .005 percent effective tax rate that you cited this morning during your press conference, they said that — "I said it before. It's a completely made-up number. We paid $400 million of taxes in Ireland during 2014. We're one of the largest taxpayers⁸ in the country."

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: Well, the thing is that it is important for profits to be paid where profits are made.

　　And what we have seen is that the Irish tax rulings allowed Apple to put the huge majority of their profits into a so-called headquarter or head office. This head office only existed on paper. It had no employees, no premises⁹, no real activities, and it wasn't taxed, not in Ireland, nor anywhere else.

　　And that, of course, then led to the result that Apple paid very, very, very little in taxes compared to their profits, in some years, as little as 0.005 percent.

　　欧盟裁定苹果公司欠爱尔兰145亿美元的税款

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Is this part of a broader effort to redefine how multinational corporations pay taxes? We have heard that you're also going after McDonald's and reportedly Amazon?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: Well, the thing is that I do state aid control, and state aid control do not redefine taxation¹⁰ as such.

　　That, of course, takes the legislature to work. And that is why we have worked with the European Council, with the European Parliament in order to change legislation, to make transparency greater, to have country-by-country reporting, for tax authorities actually to know what other tax authorities are doing.

　　But it is for the legislature to change that. What I do is what we have a longstanding tradition of doing and a longstanding court practice of doing, which is to control state aid seen as specific advantages to specific companies.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Doesn't this draw into conflict the role of the European Union or the Commission vs. countries and their sovereignty and how they're able to lay out their tax laws?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: Well, the sovereignty of the member state is protected by our treaty. And I, of course, respect that 100 percent. I have sworn to respect the treaty.

　　But the thing is that two things have to be in place at the same time, both upholding national legislation as tax legislation and, at the same time, the European legislation that we have made in common, that — the EU state aid rules.

　　And here we have a situation where you have Irish states — Irish tax legislation, but a breach¹¹ of European state aid rules, because illegal state aid was handed out.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: For the record, we did invite Apple. They didn't have anybody available today.

　　But they did say in a statement that this could have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe. They employ about 6,000 people in Ireland. Do you expect that?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: Well, the thing is that Europe is a wonderful place to do business.

　　It's a single market with more than 500 million potential customers. It's a place where you find research and development of highest quality. You find very skilled people, good people to employ, wonderful infrastructure¹².

　　So you're more than welcome to come to Europe to do business. And I think you can have a very good business here. The thing is that what we don't like so much is if you come to Europe for tax avoidance.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Is there a concern that this is — the uncertainty¹³ between how the EU rules on different laws inside member nations could create a climate where a company might not come to Europe; they might base themselves somewhere else?

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: I think there is an issue here also of corporate culture, because, if you're in a country where the tax rate is 12.5 percent, as in Ireland, and you pay less than 1 percent, also substantially less than 1 percent, well, then I think you should also reconsider if everything is all right.

　　And 12.5 percent is, in the first place, a very low corporate taxation compared to other European member states.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Margrethe Vestager, thanks so much for joining us.

　　MARGRETHE VESTAGER: It was a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

1 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

2 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

10 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

11 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。