Sources of the Wall Street Journal report that the results of the investigations that the European Union has conducted on the multinationals operating in some European countries with which they have entered into agreements are just a few hours away from being published. Among these, the pact signed by the Irish government and Apple is the one that most aroused the suspicions of the European authorities. Among the suspects also appear Starbucks - of which very little is known - and the agreements between Luxembourg and Fiat Finance Trade.
The purpose of these investigations is to evaluate the illegality or not of the tax agreements between some multinationals and the states in which they operate. Regarding the Apple case, an Irish government spokesman said: “We are confident that there is no infringement in this case. […] Ireland has already submitted a formal response to the committee, addressing the concerns and misunderstandings in detail.'
The European roundup goes hand in hand with American calls for a newfound "economic patriotism" - as Barack Obama called it. The Treasury Department has in fact made it known that a plan is almost ready to discourage the flight abroad of large American companies. These, through operations called inversions, acquire foreign companies in order to be able to move their tax headquarters to that State, taking advantage of favorable legislation compared to that of the USA.
For now, however, those Americans are just words and the problem of 13 agreements signed in two years for a total value of 178 billion dollars and lost tax revenues of 20 billion dollars remains unresolved. Congress is waiting, without taking action in this regard, with the risk of prolonging the problem at least until the midterm elections.
