Apple in the frame again over £190bn tax loophole
APPLE was last night embroiled in a £190billion offshore tax scandal amid bombshell claims it is avoiding billions in taxes.
The world’s most profitable firm allegedly benefits from a secret structure which enables it to enjoy an ultra-low tax rate.
Instead of paying Irish corporation tax of 12.5 per cent or the US rate of 35 per cent, avoidance tactics helped slash its tax rate to just two per cent.
The revelation emerged in leaked financial documents dubbed the Paradise Papers.
It came as Theresa May was accused of being “soft” on tax dodging – and Jeremy Corbyn suggested the Queen should apologise after it was revealed that she has £10million invested in tax havens.
The disclosures came from a huge batch of documents from offshore law firm Appleby, which revealed the financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, corporate giants and business leaders.
The records showed Apple dodged a crackdown on its tax practices by shopping around for a tax haven and moving the firm holding most of its £190billion untaxed cash to Jersey.
Apple has not done anything illegal. It is not known exactly how much the company avoided paying in tax.
But the damning disclosure is likely to raise fresh questions for the tech giant, who previously exploited a loophole in tax laws in the US and Ireland known as the “double Irish”.
Meanwhile, May refused to commit to either a public inquiry or a full public register of trusts or firms with offshore investments.
She claimed HMRC had collected £160billion more in tax revenue since the Tories came to power in 2010, adding: “We want people to pay the tax that’s due.”
Ex-Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft insisted he did not ignore rules in relation to an offshore trust he was said to use to shelter his wealth.
But Corbyn suggested that even the Queen should say sorry for having £10million in offshore tax havens.
He said: “Anyone who is putting money into tax havens in order to avoid taxation in Britain, and obviously investigations have to take place, should do two things – not just apologise for it but also recognise what it does to our society.”