蘋果被曝利用澤西島避稅

The leak of financial documents dubbed the “Paradise Papers” has for the first time thrust the small British island of Jersey into the spotlight over its role in allegedly helping US technology giant Apple shape its overseas tax strategy.

被稱為《天堂文件》(Paradise Papers)的財務(wù)文件的泄露，首次將英屬小島澤西島(Jersey)推到聚光燈下，因其在幫助美國科技巨頭蘋果(Apple)制定海外稅收戰(zhàn)略方面發(fā)揮了作用。

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which co-ordinated the release of the papers alongside other media organisations, on Monday claimed that Apple “found new ways to keep tax rates ultra-low” after the technology company had come under heavy criticism for minimising its tax bill via Irish subsidiaries in 2013.

與其他媒體組織協(xié)作發(fā)布了這些文件的國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟(International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)周一稱，蘋果“找到了保持超低稅率的新辦法”，此前這家科技公司因在2013年通過愛爾蘭子公司最小化稅單而受到嚴(yán)厲批評。

The stories reveal the response to Ireland’s decision to bow to international pressure by tightening its tax rules.

這些消息透露出，在愛爾蘭政府迫于國際壓力決定收緊稅收規(guī)則后，蘋果已找到對策。

It first cracked down on Irish companies that had no tax residency and later, in mid-2014, it started exploring a phase of the “double Irish”, a strategy widely used by US multinationals to route their foreign profits to tax havens.

首先受到打壓的是那些沒有稅收居所的愛爾蘭企業(yè)，之后，在2014年年中，愛爾蘭政府開始審查“雙層愛爾蘭”(double Irish)的一個環(huán)節(jié)，這是美國跨國公司廣泛使用的一種將外國利潤轉(zhuǎn)移到避稅天堂的策略。

US multinationals have used tax havens to defer US tax on their foreign profits, as a response to what they view as an uncompetitive tax system which imposes a high tax rate on worldwide profits.

美國跨國公司利用避稅天堂來延后美國對其海外利潤收稅，這是這些公司應(yīng)對在他們看來缺乏競爭力的美國稅制的一種手段;美國對企業(yè)在全球的利潤實行高稅率。

Apple advisers at US law firm Baker Mackenzie approached Appleby, the offshore law firm at the heart of the Paradise Papers leak, in 2014 about available tax structures in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, according to the ICIJ.

國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟稱，2014年，美國律師事務(wù)所麥堅時(Baker Mackenzie)為蘋果出謀劃策的顧問們就找到Appleby，后者是一家境外律所，處于此次《天堂文件》泄露的核心。蘋果的顧問們希望了解開曼群島、英屬維爾京群島、百慕大、馬恩島、根西島和澤西島可用的稅收結(jié)構(gòu)。

One of the emails from Baker Mackenzie to Appleby, released by the ICIJ, stated: “Confirm that an Irish company can conduct management activities . . . without being subject to taxation in your jurisdiction.”

國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟公開的由麥堅時發(fā)給Appleby的一封郵件說：“確認(rèn)一家愛爾蘭公司可以開展管理活動……而無需在你們的司法管轄區(qū)報稅”。

The ICIJ said Apple eventually “settled on Jersey . . . [which was to] play a significant role in Apple’s newly configured Irish tax structure set up in late 2014”.

國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟表示，蘋果最終“選擇了澤西島……(后者)在蘋果于2014年末設(shè)立的新安排的愛爾蘭稅務(wù)結(jié)構(gòu)中扮演了重要角色”。

“Under this arrangement, the MacBook-maker has continued to enjoy ultra-low tax rates on most of its profits and now holds much of its non-US earnings in a $252bn mountain of cash offshore,” it added.

“在這一安排下，這家MacBook制造商的絕大部分利潤繼續(xù)適用超低稅率，現(xiàn)在將很大一部分美國以外的盈利放在其2520億美元的離岸金庫，”國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟補充道。

As well as moving two subsidiaries to Jersey, a third subsidiary, Apple Operations Europe, became resident in Ireland, the ICIJ reported.

國際調(diào)查記者聯(lián)盟報告稱，除了將兩家子公司遷至澤西島，蘋果的第三家子公司——Apple Operations Europe落戶愛爾蘭。

Tax experts said it was likely that Apple was taking advantage of the increased generosity of Ireland’s tax deductions for intellectual property such as patents and trademarks. They cited as evidence the sudden appearance of close to $270bn of intangible assets in Ireland’s national accounts.

稅務(wù)專家表示，蘋果可能正在利用愛爾蘭對專利和商標(biāo)等知識產(chǎn)權(quán)更加慷慨的稅收抵免。他們援引了一個證據(jù)：愛爾蘭的國民賬戶中突然出現(xiàn)了近2700億美元的無形資產(chǎn)。