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 judgment by the commission follows a three-year investigation 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 commissioner Margrethe Vestager circulated the final ruling to her counterparts in the EU’s executive branch only on Monday morning, deploying 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 inquiry 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 Treasury 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 assessment on Apple, which previously warned the US Securities and Exchange Commission that an adverse 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。

Investigators 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 specify 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 looming 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。