爱尔兰的税收漏洞使其成为苹果避税天堂

2014-10-14 10:58:32来源：可可英语

　　With the recent outcry over corporate tax loopholes, the E.U. decided to take a closer look atsome of its members’ tax dealings that had been flagged in the media. In addition to Appleand Ireland, it is looking at Fiat in Luxembourg and Starbucks in the Netherlands. And while theApple case is far from over — indeed, both Apple and Ireland insist they did nothing wrong —Almunia, at least, has concluded that Apple’s tax deal with Ireland amounts to “state aid.”Under European Commission rules, countries are not allowed to subsidize companies in waysthat give them advantages over others in the country.

　　由于企业的税收漏洞最近引起了轩然大波，欧盟决定对媒体揭露的某些欧盟成员国的税收安排进行仔细审查。除了苹果与爱尔兰的做法，欧盟还在调查菲亚特(Fiat)在卢森堡，以及星巴克(Starbucks)在荷兰的税务安排。虽然苹果的案件还远远没有结束——实际上苹果和爱尔兰坚称它们不存在违法行为——但至少阿尔穆尼亚已经断定，苹果与爱尔兰的税务协议相当于“国家补贴”。欧盟委员会的规定禁止各个国家以提供优惠条件的方式对企业进行补贴，这样会使一些公司比另一些公司更有优势。

　　Here then is one difference between what transpires in the U.S. and what transpires in Europe:The E.U. has rules intended to prevent nations from giving unjustified tax breaks tocompanies. “In Europe there is now a mechanism to prevent the most harmful abuses” of thetax code, said Matthew Gardner, the executive director of the Institute on Taxation andEconomic Policy. It has taken a while — and required an outraged public to spur it on — but theE.U. finally seems intent on curbing excesses like Apple’s tax deal in Ireland.

　　美国的情况与欧洲的情况存在一个差异：欧盟制定了相关规定，以防止国家给予公司不合理的税收优惠。税收与经济政策研究所(Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy)执行理事马修·加德纳(MatthewGardner)说，“欧洲现在存在一种机制，来防止危害性最强的规避税法的行为。”走到这一步花了一些时间，也需要愤怒的公众进一步推动，但欧盟最终似乎下定了决心，要遏制一些过分的行为，比如苹果与爱尔兰达成的税务协议。

　　In truth, most tax subsidies don’t make much sense — not for countries and certainly not forstates. “There is a lot of work that shows that tax subsidies vastly overpay for the jobs theycreate,” said Edward Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California and theauthor of the recent book “We Are Better Than This: How Government Should Spend OurMoney.”

　　实际上，大多数税收补贴对于国家，特别是对于各州来说，并没有多大意义。南加州大学(University ofSouthern California)法学教授爱德华·克莱恩巴德(Edward Kleinbard)说，“有很多研究显示，税收补贴的金额，远远超过了公司所创造就业岗位的价值。”克莱恩巴德最近出版了《我们可以做得更好：纳税人的钱政府应该怎么花》(We Are Better Than This: How Government Should Spend Our Money)。

　　It’s a good thing that the E.U. is trying to curb unjustified tax breaks. Maybe it’s time to dothe same here.

　　欧盟正在设法遏制不合理的税收优惠，这是好事。或许美国现在也应该这么做。

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