THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 16, 2016- Topic 2
The hefty €13 billion in back taxes the European Commission IMPOSEd
on Apple should have drawn Europe and the U.S. closer in their common quest to
crack down on corporate tax avoidance. But the UNPRECEDENTED penalty to
hit the American tech giant has TRIGGERED angry outbursts at home and could well
put paid to hopes for transatlantic cooperation, especially on the trade and
investment partnership agreement, in the immediate future. The latest ruling by
the European Union competition commissioner may not be the last against U.S.
multinationals in what is increasingly being viewed as HARMFUL
to tax diplomacy. As with the STARBUCKS decision in 2015 and the ongoing probe into McDonald’s, both concerning two different
countries, the Commission alleges that Ireland’s ultra-low, single-digit tax
arrangements with Apple were in violation of EU state aid rules. Notably, the
Commission has not taken issue with Dublin’s 12.5 per cent rate of corporate
taxation. CURIOUSLY, the possibility of clawing back billions of euros,
estimated to be worth the country’s health-care budget for a year, is not an
attractive prospect for Dublin, home to hundreds of multinationals thriving on
its decades-old foreign direct investment policies that include low corporate
taxation. Instead, Ireland, which risks losing jobs, has resolved to appeal the
decision along with Apple, whose Irish subsidiaries account for 90 per cent of
the company’s overall profits.
On the other hand, there is no confusion on the other
side of the Atlantic on what the move by Brussels implies. U.S. politicians are
PIQUED
that a big chunk of the money — that firms such as Apple may eventually have to
pay European governments — could instead have filled domestic coffers, but for
a domestic STUMBLING block. This is the regulatory loophole that companies
exploit to defer, indefinitely, levies on profits from their overseas
subsidiaries until they are REPATRIATED. As matters stand, the 35 per cent tax rate in the
U.S., compared to Ireland’s 12.5 per cent, is an incentive for American firms
to retain the advantage of the deferral clause. Meanwhile, a 2014 regulation to
curb so-called corporate INVERSION, a MANOEUVRE whereby American firms relocate their headquarters to BENIGN
countries to trim domestic tax bills, is said to have had limited effect in the
absence of legislation. Global efforts backed by more than 80 countries to
combat cross-border tax avoidance, known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting,
are still at an early stage. EU action targeting individual corporations could
well be seen, at this juncture, as an IRRITANT in that larger ENDEAVOUR.
:::::::::::::::::Meanings with
example and Synonyms::::::::::::::::
Impose: force (something unwelcome or unfamiliar) to be accepted or put in place.
Example: The decision was theirs and was not imposed on them by others
Synonyms: foist, force, inflict, press, urge, saddle
someone with
Unprecedented: never done or known before.
Example: The government took the unprecedented step of releasing confidential
correspondence
Synonyms: unheard of, unknown, new, novel, groundbreaking, revolutionary
Triggered: cause (an event or situation) to happen or exist.
Example: An allergy can be triggered by stress or overwork
Synonyms: precipitate, prompt, elicit, trigger off, set off, spark
(off), touch off
Harmful: causing or likely to cause harm.
Example: Shield the planet from harmful cosmic rays
Synonyms: damaging, injurious, detrimental, dangerous, deleterious, unfavorable
Curiously: strange; unusual.
Example: A curious sensation overwhelmed her
Synonyms: strange, odd, peculiar, funny, unusual, bizarre, weird, eccentric
Piqued: stimulate (interest or curiosity).
Example: You have piqued my curiosity about the man
Synonyms: stimulate, arouse, rouse, provoke, whet, awaken, excite
Stumbling: trip or momentarily lose one's balance; almost fall.
Example: Her foot caught a shoe and she stumbled
Synonyms: trip (over/up), lose one's balance
Repatriated: send (someone) back to their own country.
Example: The United Nations hopes to repatriate all the refugees
Inversion: the action of inverting something or the state of being inverted.
Example: The inversion of the normal domestic arrangement
Manoeuvre: a movement or series of moves requiring skill and care.
Example: Spectacular jumps and other daring maneuvers
Synonyms: operation, exercise, activity, move, movement, action
Benign: gentle; kindly.
Example: Her face was calm and benign
Synonyms: kindly, kind, warmhearted, good-natured, friendly, warm, affectionate
Endeavour: an attempt to achieve a goal.
Example: An endeavor to reduce serious injury
Synonyms: attempt, try, bid, effort, venture, go, crack, shot, stab, essay
Irritant: a thing that is continually annoying or distracting.
Example: In 1966, Vietnam was becoming an irritant to the government