Apple will be accused of prospering from illegal tax deals with the Irish government for more than two decades when Brussels this week unveils details of a probe that could leave the iPhone maker with a record fine of as much as several billions of euros.

    苹果(Apple)将被指在20多年里获利于其与爱尔兰政府达成的非法税务安排。本周欧盟(EU)将公布相关调查结果，这可能意味着iPhone制造商将接到高达数十亿欧元的创纪录罚单。

 

    Preliminary findings from the European Commission’s investigation into Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland, where it has had a rate of less than 2 per cent, claim the Silicon Valley company benefited from illicit state aid after striking backroom deals with Ireland’s authorities, according to people involved in the case. Apple, which has operated in Ireland since 1980, maintains that its agreements with Ireland did not break any laws. “There’s never been any special deal, there’s never been anything that would be construed as state aid,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times.

    知情人士表示，欧盟委员会(European Commission)对苹果在爱尔兰税务安排的调查将得出初步结论，指称这家硅谷企业在与爱尔兰当局达成黑箱交易后，多年享受低于2%的税率，获利于非法政府补贴。自1980年起就在爱尔兰开展业务的苹果坚称，其与爱尔兰达成的协议并不违法。“从来没有什么特殊交易，从来没有任何可被视为政府补贴的东西，”苹果首席财务官卢卡?马埃斯特里(Luca Maestri)对英国《金融时报》表示。

 

    The attack on the tax practices of the world’s richest company follows last year’s US Senate hearings, where it emerged that Apple shifted billions of dollars in profits out of the US to international subsidiaries with no declared tax residency. Based on its concerns, the commission has decided to open an in-depth investigation of arrangements between Apple and the Irish authorities dating back to 1991. It is part of a wider crackdown on what Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s competition commissioner, has called “aggressive” tax avoidance.

    欧盟对世界上财力最雄厚的企业的税务实践发起攻击之前，去年美国参议院曾举行听证会，发现苹果将巨额利润从美国转移至海外子公司，而且没有申报后者的税务居住地(tax residency)。出于关切，欧盟委员会决定对苹果与爱尔兰政府从1991年起达成的税务安排展开深入调查。此举是对欧盟竞争事务专员华金?阿尔穆尼亚(Joaquín Almunia)所称的“激进”避税展开的全面打击的一部分。

 

    Brussels is also investigating similar deals between Starbucks and the Dutch government, and Fiat Finance and Trade, the financial arm of the automotive group, with Luxembourg.

    欧盟还在调查星巴克(Starbucks)与荷兰政府、以及跨国车企菲亚特(Fiat)旗下菲亚特金融及贸易公司(Fiat Finance and Trade)与卢森堡政府达成的类似安排。