Apple has made it clear time and again that the company is not happy with the current regulations surrounding the corporate tax policies. Tim Cook, the company’s Chief Executive Officer(CEO) said that every knows that the global corporate tax system needs a overhaul, suggesting changes that are currently under consideration.
The current policies have been deemed ‘unfit’ now, as companies like Apple and Microsoft have far excelled the standards set by any company until now. Thus, existing rules need a change so as to maintain fair game in the market. Thus, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is being approached to impose better policies and more effective ways in which MNCs should be taxed.
The new changes suggest an approach where companies should be taxed in low income countries according to where there bases are, in contrast to where they have the most customers.
Apple has not filed this appeal alone, as the government of Ireland, where the company employs 6,000 workers and together, they are fighting an order issued by European Union in which Apple has been asked to pay 13 billion euros ($14.41 billion) in back taxes to Dublin. Apple and Ireland share a very strong bond ever since the company started its operations in the country back in 1980, with Ireland becoming the first European market for Apple.
The company also suggested stricter regulations for privacy than the ones that were introduced in the 2018 European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy laws that handed regulators there significantly more powers.
“I think more regulation is needed in this area, it is probably strange for a business person to be talking about regulation but it has become apparent that companies will not self-police in this area. We were one of the first to endorse GDPR, we think it is overall extremely good, not only for Europe. We think it’s necessary but not sufficient. You have to go further and that further is required to get privacy back to where it should be.”
