First, they shift all profit to Ireland as "licensing costs" for intellectual property.
Next:
"Ordinarily, those profits would be taxed in Ireland at the relatively low rate of 12.5 percent but — thanks to an agreement between Apple and Ireland — the vast majority of profits in Ireland were attributed to a "head office" not located in any country and therefore not subject to taxes in Ireland or anywhere."
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiarie...
You’re contradicting yourself - they cannot simultaneously shift all profits to Ireland and to a non-Irish head office. They split the profits on their international sales channeled through Ireland between both. The non-Irish profits are taxable by the US which is why the US government is fighting the EU over this as they rightly (in my opinion) see it as a money grab.
No he is not contradicting himself, and yes they can do both of those and spirit away the entirety of their EU profits into a caribbean island with minimal taxation. Read up on the double irish dutch sandwich tax strategy.
You’re implying that by moving international profits to a Caribbean country means Apple has avoided corporate tax? Like laundering money?
This is not the case - they park their international profits in the Caribbean because US tax code allows them to keep profits offshore and only pay tax when they bring the profits onshore.
If Ireland was facilitating corporate tax avoidance by an American country, why is the US supporting Ireland in the Apple case in the ECJ?
Does this not suggest that there is more complexity to this situations than the hyperbolic headlines?
First, they shift all profit to Ireland as "licensing costs" for intellectual property.
Next: "Ordinarily, those profits would be taxed in Ireland at the relatively low rate of 12.5 percent but — thanks to an agreement between Apple and Ireland — the vast majority of profits in Ireland were attributed to a "head office" not located in any country and therefore not subject to taxes in Ireland or anywhere." https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/how-apples-irish-subsidiarie...