苹果被曝利用泽西岛避税
被称为《天堂文件》(Paradise Papers)的财务文件的泄露，首次将英属小岛泽西岛(Jersey)推到聚光灯下，因其在帮助美国科技巨头苹果(Apple)制定海外税收战略方面发挥了作用。
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.
与其他媒体组织协作发布了这些文件的国际调查记者联盟(International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)周一称，苹果“找到了保持超低税率的新办法”，此前这家科技公司因在2013年通过爱尔兰子公司最小化税单而受到严厉批评。
The stories reveal the response to Ireland’s decision to bow to international pressure by tightening its tax rules.
这些消息透露出，在爱尔兰政府迫于国际压力决定收紧税收规则后，苹果已找到对策。
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.
首先受到打压的是那些没有税收居所的爱尔兰企业，之后，在2014年年中，爱尔兰政府开始审查“双层爱尔兰”(double Irish)的一个环节，这是美国跨国公司广泛使用的一种将外国利润转移到避税天堂的策略。
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.
美国跨国公司利用避税天堂来延后美国对其海外利润收税，这是这些公司应对在他们看来缺乏竞争力的美国税制的一种手段;美国对企业在全球的利润实行高税率。
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.
国际调查记者联盟称，2014年，美国律师事务所麦坚时(Baker Mackenzie)为苹果出谋划策的顾问们就找到Appleby，后者是一家境外律所，处于此次《天堂文件》泄露的核心。苹果的顾问们希望了解开曼群岛、英属维尔京群岛、百慕大、马恩岛、根西岛和泽西岛可用的税收结构。
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.”
国际调查记者联盟公开的由麦坚时发给Appleby的一封邮件说：“确认一家爱尔兰公司可以开展管理活动……而无需在你们的司法管辖区报税”。
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”.
国际调查记者联盟表示，苹果最终“选择了泽西岛……(后者)在苹果于2014年末设立的新安排的爱尔兰税务结构中扮演了重要角色”。
“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.
“在这一安排下，这家MacBook制造商的绝大部分利润继续适用超低税率，现在将很大一部分美国以外的盈利放在其2520亿美元的离岸金库，”国际调查记者联盟补充道。
As well as moving two subsidiaries to Jersey, a third subsidiary, Apple Operations Europe, became resident in Ireland, the ICIJ reported.
国际调查记者联盟报告称，除了将两家子公司迁至泽西岛，苹果的第三家子公司——Apple Operations Europe落户爱尔兰。
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.
税务专家表示，苹果可能正在利用爱尔兰对专利和商标等知识产权更加慷慨的税收抵免。他们援引了一个证据：爱尔兰的国民账户中突然出现了近2700亿美元的无形资产。
