Jersey Tax Haven: Apple Used Channel Island To Avoid US Taxes

New documents made public as part of the release of the Paradise Papers revealed that Apple moved two of its subsidiary companies to the island of Jersey in order to avoid tax obligations and or regulations.

According to numerous reports, including one from the New York Times, Apple moved two parts of its company to Jersey from Ireland in order to take advantage of the fact that Jersey typically does not tax corporate income.

According to the Guardian, the Paradise Papers revealed Apple in the process of moving two subsidiaries—Apple Operations International (AOI) and Apple Sales International (ASI)—to Jersey. It’s believed that one of those companies holds the majority of Apple’s massive stash of cash on hand, which is up to $268.9 billion according to the company's most recent quarterly earnings report.

The move from Apple came after the company’s shelter in Ireland began to be less reliable. The European Union had been pressuring the country to close its tax loopholes that allowed Apple to operate essentially tax free by placing its European headquarters within the nation’s borders.

Earlier this year, the European Commission revealed its intention to issue a noncompliance action against Ireland for failure to collect tax from Apple. The commission estimated Ireland failed to collect at least 15 billion euros (about $17.4 billion) from the tech giant.

Ireland has refused to move on the demand from the European Commission, likely in an effort to retain Apple’s presence within the country. Tim Cook has also pushed back against the charges from the European Commission.

Apple employs about 5,500 people in the city of Cork—Ireland’s second-largest city—and announced last year a plan to expand its existing operation by up to 1,000 jobs over an 18-month period. The company is the largest private employer in Cork and economists estimate Apple’s operations in Ireland generate around $24 billion annually in salaries, taxes and investment.

“When Ireland changed its tax laws in 2015, we complied by changing the residency of our Irish subsidiaries and we informed Ireland, the European commission and the United States,” a spokesperson for Apple told the New York Times. “The changes we made did not reduce our tax payments in any country.”

In advance of its move to Jersey, Apple retained a Bermuda-based law firm called Appleby to provide advice on where to move its offshore tax shelter. Appleby is well-known for its efforts to help clients reduce their tax bill and helped point Apple to Jersey.

It’s worth noting that Apple’s decision to move its subsidiaries isn’t illegal and doesn’t break any laws, but it does raise questions over the company’s business practices as it continues to dodge taxes despite being one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Apple has come under fire for tax avoidance in the past, including drawing the ire of a bipartisan United States Senate committee that accused the company of seeking “the holy grail of tax avoidance.”