International taxes

The U.S. Treasury Department took fresh steps on Thursday to curb tax avoidance by multinational corporations, issuing new curbs on a loophole through which companies artificially use credits for foreign taxes they pay to improperly lower their U.S. tax bills.

When Apple Inc. was ordered by European regulators to pay $14.5 billion plus interest in back taxes to Ireland, the giant technology company seemed to be facing an expensive headache. Turns out it’s a headache for the U.S. Treasury Department as well.

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan hit back at the European Union after it ordered him to recoup a record 13 billion euros ($14.7 billion) from Apple Inc., saying his country is leading the way on countering tax avoidance.

About two weeks after Denmark revealed it had lost as much as $4 billion in taxes through a combination of fraud and mismanagement, the minister in charge of revenue collection says that figure may need to be revised even higher.

Ireland’s government agreed to fight this week’s European Union decision forcing Apple Inc. to pay it vast tax arrears, ending a squabble which threatened to destabilize Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s administration.

When I told my wife that I was working on the Apple story, she told me that it’s already been covered—in the Book of Genesis. She’s right, of course, since good versus evil permeates many of the issues in the current tax landscape.

The European Commission’s finding that Ireland must collect as much as an attention-getting 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes from Apple Inc. contained a second stunning number: 0.005 percent.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said he’s confident the iPhone maker will win a court fight against this week’s European Union decision forcing it to pay Ireland vast tax arrears, as Prime Minister Enda Kenny struggled to unite his government behind an appeal.

The days when big U.S. technology companies could easily slice tax bills in Europe are coming to an end.

The European Union’s finding that Apple Inc. owes Ireland more than $14 billion in back taxes reveals the high cost the U.S. Treasury may pay by failing to keep pace in a global effort to stem corporate tax avoidance—and Apple might represent only the first major U.S. loss.

The United States trade balance is out of whack. Once again, the U.S. is losing big in the world trade arena.

Apple was ordered to repay as much as $14.5 billion plus interest after the European Commission said Ireland illegally slashed the iPhone maker’s tax bill between 2003-2014.

(Bloomberg) Apple Inc. is facing a potential tax bill running into billions of euros, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Internal Revenue Service is closing off admission to a program that allows large corporations to discuss and resolve their tax issues with the IRS before filing their tax returns, due to budget constraints.

When the European Union pressured Switzerland to scrap tax breaks for foreign companies, Geneva had the most to lose. Now, the canton that’s home to almost 1,000 multinationals is set to use tax to burnish its appeal.

The U.S. is stepping up its effort to convince the European Commission to refrain from hitting Apple Inc. and other companies with demands for possibly billions of euros in underpaid taxes.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development issued last October the final Base Erosion and Profit Shifting reports that are expected to fundamentally change the course of international taxation and transfer pricing for all multinational enterprises.

For years, the biggest nations have tried to outsmart tax dodgers and reclaim trillions of dollars stashed in offshore accounts. Many of them are tired of waiting and now just want to make peace and bring some of the money back home.

Republican Donald Trump is proposing a big tax cut for companies like Apple Inc., which would see its tax rate slashed on about $200 billion of profit it keeps offshore.

Restaurateur Rowen Seibel has made the gossip pages for getting socked by Diane von Furstenburg’s son and multimillion-dollar court fights he’s waging with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.