Name: 從蘋果到輝瑞公司如何利用愛爾蘭逃稅 (How Companies From Apple To Pfizer Use Ireland To Dodge Taxes)
Uploaded: 2025-06-16T03:26:34.000Z
Duration: 9 min 58 s

Over the past three decades, U.S. corporations set up shop in Ireland.

在過去的三十年裡，美國公司紛紛在愛爾蘭開店。

In 1996, about 3% of U.S. businesses with global operations had Irish affiliates.

1996 年，約有 3% 在全球開展業務的美國企業在愛爾蘭設有分支機構。

By 2022, 25% of them opened Irish businesses.

到 2022 年，其中 25% 的人將開辦愛爾蘭企業。

You really cannot talk about U.S. multinationals in the last few decades without talking about

談到過去幾十年的美國跨國公司，就不能不談到

Big U.S. corporations, that's technology companies like Apple, Microsoft, big pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, their tax strategies, for many decades at least, were built around the role of Ireland.

美國的大型企業，如蘋果、微軟等科技公司，輝瑞等大型製藥公司，至少在幾十年的時間裡，它們的稅收戰略都是圍繞愛爾蘭的作用而制定的。

Something like 15% of Ireland's workforce is employed by U.S. firms, and they've also seen higher wage growth and more job opportunities.

愛爾蘭大約有15%的勞動力受僱於美國公司，他們也看到了更高的工資增長和更多的就業機會。

A key economic advisor to President Trump called out Ireland in an appearance on the

美國總統特朗普的一位重要經濟顧問在參加《華盛頓郵報》的一次訪談時抨擊了愛爾蘭。

The country of Ireland, they have all of our IP for our great tech.

愛爾蘭擁有我們偉大技術的所有知識產權。

Great tech companies and great pharma companies.

偉大的科技公司和偉大的製藥公司。

They all put it there because it's low tax, and they don't pay us, they pay them, so that's got to end.

他們都把它放在那裡，因為它是低稅，他們不付我們錢，他們付他們錢，所以這必須結束。

Tax loopholes are a huge part of the answer.

稅收漏洞是答案的重要組成部分。

All of this tax avoidance was facilitated, enabled, and on some level blessed by the

所有這些避稅行為都得到了以下機構的幫助、支持和某種程度上的眷顧

But as Congress refines the U.S. tax code, politicians hope that some companies will bring more business back to the states.

但隨著國會對美國稅法的完善，政治家們希望一些公司能將更多業務帶回各州。

Here's how some of America's biggest companies use Ireland to reduce their tax bills.

以下是一些美國最大的公司如何利用愛爾蘭來降低稅費。

A large range of American companies stow their intellectual property in Ireland, particularly tech companies.

許多美國公司，尤其是科技公司，都將其知識產權存放在愛爾蘭。

To illustrate this, let's pretend to set up our own multinational tech firm, Big Comp.

為了說明這一點，讓我們假裝成立自己的跨國科技公司 Big Comp。

Big Comp's assets are entirely controlled by a holding company that's based in the U.S.

Big Comp 的資產完全由一家位於美國的控股公司控制。

It's called Big Comp Holding Company, and it has a subsidiary, Big Comp International.

該公司名為 Big Comp Holding Company，旗下有一家子公司 Big Comp International。

The subsidiary is based in Ireland, where tax rates are relatively low.

子公司設在稅率相對較低的愛爾蘭。

Big Comp is working on a new smart device.

Big Comp 正在研發一款新的智能設備。

The Irish subsidiary buys licenses for its hardware, software, and design features at a very competitive price from its parent company.

愛爾蘭子公司以極具競爭力的價格從母公司購買硬件、軟件和設計功能的許可證。

Lucky us, the product is looking like it'll be a hit.

我們很幸運，這款產品看起來會很受歡迎。

We go on to sell millions of dollars worth of product.

我們繼續銷售價值數百萬美元的產品。

Much of the revenue is taxed at a lower rate, because that profit was made by Big Comp International.

大部分收入的稅率較低，因為這些利潤是由 Big Comp International 賺取的。

If you are Apple or Pfizer, your value comes from primarily from the intellectual property, from the iPhone design, the patent rights to major pharmaceuticals.

如果你是蘋果公司或輝瑞公司，你的價值主要來自知識產權，從 iPhone 的設計到主要藥品的專利權。

Those are legal property that you can move from your headquarters in the U.S. over to a subsidiary in Ireland.

這些都是你可以從美國總部轉移到愛爾蘭子公司的合法財產。

U.S. tech companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple, allegedly use strategies like these to lower their tax bills.

據稱，包括微軟、Alphabet 和蘋果在內的美國科技公司都採用了類似的策略來降低稅費。

In 2024, the top U.S. corporate income tax rate was 21%, but this group paid much less than that.

2024 年，美國企業所得稅的最高稅率為 21%，但這一群體的納稅額遠遠低於這一稅率。

Pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer appear to use these strategies too.

輝瑞等製藥公司似乎也在使用這些策略。

The drugmaker reported relatively low tax rates for the past three years.

在過去三年中，該製藥公司的稅率相對較低。

When you transfer the rights to the patent on a new blockbuster mega drug, the profits on that drug are going to end up wherever those ownership rights are.

當你轉讓一種新的大片特效藥的專利權時，該藥的利潤將最終歸屬於這些所有權所在的地方。

We usually focus on technology and pharmaceuticals because those are really the big ones, but it's not just them.

我們通常關注技術和製藥業，因為它們確實是大頭，但也不僅僅是它們。

You know, like Coca-Cola, the value in Coca-Cola comes essentially from the recipes.

要知道，就像可口可樂一樣，可口可樂的價值主要來自配方。

These companies tend to set up shop in Ireland.

There are over 950 U.S. firms with subsidiaries there.

有 950 多家美國公司在那裡設有子公司。

Ireland being a commonwealth country, like the United States, shares a very similar legal system.

愛爾蘭與美國一樣是英聯邦國家，有著非常相似的法律體系。

That's something that makes American, Canadian companies very, very comfortable in terms of how their intellectual property will be protected.

這讓美國和加拿大的公司對如何保護他們的知識產權感到非常、非常放心。

It's a wholly different situation than if you were in, for example, China.

這與你在中國等地的情況完全不同。

If the quirks of international IP laws are fully leveraged, a corporation could potentially avoid much of its tax bill.

如果充分利用國際知識產權法的特殊性，企業就有可能避免大部分稅款。

In the year 2014, their effective corporate income tax rate was below 1% in Europe.

2014 年，他們在歐洲的實際企業所得稅率低於 1%。

Apple and Pfizer did not respond to CNBC's request for comment for this story.

蘋果公司和輝瑞公司沒有迴應 CNBC 的置評請求。

By 2003, Ireland's corporate tax rate was set to 12.5%, one of the lowest rates in Europe at the time.

到 2003 年，愛爾蘭的企業稅率定為 12.5%，是當時歐洲稅率最低的國家之一。

This, combined with other policies, enabled a strategy known as the Double Irish.

這與其他政策相結合，促成了一項被稱為 "雙重愛爾蘭 "的戰略。

What the Double Irish tax strategy allowed a corporation to do was effectively make its profits disappear.

愛爾蘭雙重徵稅戰略允許公司做的事情就是有效地使其利潤消失。

It requires two Irish subsidiaries, and one of them would be neither a tax resident of

它需要兩家愛爾蘭子公司，其中一家既不是愛爾蘭的稅務居民，也不是愛爾蘭的納稅人。

Ireland but would also not be considered a foreign subsidiary by the U.S. government.

但美國政府也不會將其視為外國子公司。

They usually will end up in a real tax haven with very, very low tax rates, sort of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, those are the big ones here.

他們通常會選擇稅率非常非常低的真正的避稅天堂，比如百慕大群島、開曼群島等。

It was sort of an escape valve from high-tax countries that had, in the U.S.'s case, the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world.

美國是發達國家中企業稅率最高的國家。

And it allowed businesses in the U.S. to access global markets at lower tax rates without being kneecapped by what was, at least pre-2017, an incredibly uncompetitive tax system.

它允許美國企業以較低的稅率進入全球市場，而不會被至少在2017年之前，一個極不具競爭力的稅收制度所壓制。

The Double Irish would not have been possible without both quirks of Irish tax law but also quirks of U.S. tax law that are unusual compared to other countries.

如果沒有愛爾蘭稅法中的一些怪癖，以及美國稅法中與其他國家相比不同尋常的怪癖，"雙重愛爾蘭人 "計劃是不可能實現的。

As the strategy caught on, shares of U.S. corporations with Irish subsidiaries soared.

隨著這一戰略的推廣，擁有愛爾蘭子公司的美國公司股價飆升。

This boosted the Irish economy, enough to surpass growth in the U.S. by some metrics.

這推動了愛爾蘭經濟的發展，從某些指標來看，足以超過美國的經濟增長。

These strategies are ways of bringing real economic development to their country.

這些戰略是為本國帶來真正經濟發展的途徑。

Ireland planned this strategic shift as its economy struggled in the 1980s, sparking waves of migration and population decline.

20 世紀 80 年代，愛爾蘭經濟陷入困境，引發了移民潮和人口下降，是以愛爾蘭規劃了這一戰略轉移。

Dublin has the youngest, the fastest growing, and the most unemployed population in Europe.

都柏林擁有歐洲最年輕、增長最快和失業最多的人口。

There was a very concerted effort by the Irish government to bring U.S. investment into Ireland.

愛爾蘭政府為將美國投資引入愛爾蘭做出了非常協調一致的努力。

That started happening in the 80s when things, frankly, were not great.

這種情況從上世紀 80 年代就開始出現了，坦率地說，當時的情況並不好。

In Ireland, there was a high level of unemployment.

But within that unemployed population, you had very well-educated people with a high skill set.

但在這些失業人口中，也有受過良好教育、擁有高技能的人。

Many of them emigrated, but for those that did not, there was a huge opportunity.

他們中的許多人移居國外，但對於那些沒有移居國外的人來說，這是一個巨大的機會。

That was clearly a driver of tax strategy to make it even more attractive in the 90s.

這顯然是 90 年代稅收戰略的驅動力，使其更具吸引力。

It helped that Ireland became part of the EU.

愛爾蘭成為歐盟的一部分也是有幫助的。

The economic impact on Ireland has been, in some ways, enormous.

在某些方面，這對愛爾蘭的經濟影響是巨大的。

But certainly not all of that has been actually felt by Irish citizens.

但愛爾蘭公民肯定沒有真正感受到這一切。

The other aspect of it, which is much more real, is the budgetary effects.

另一個更真實的方面是對預算的影響。

When you are putting a low tax rate on an enormous amount of profit, that leads to huge corporate tax receipts.

當你對鉅額利潤徵收低稅率時，就會產生鉅額的企業稅收。

Then, you know, the last aspect of it, which again, is real, and that could be, you know, opening office buildings in Ireland.

然後，你知道，最後一個方面也是真實的，那就是，你知道，在愛爾蘭開設辦公樓。

Pharmaceutical manufacturers, especially, have actually moved a lot of their real operations, their manufacturing operations, into Ireland.

特別是製藥商，實際上已經將他們的許多實際業務、生產業務轉移到了愛爾蘭。

These tax strategies, set decades ago, revved up a global battle over corporate tax revenues.

幾十年前制定的這些稅收戰略，引發了一場全球性的企業稅收爭奪戰。

Some observers argue that these arrangements can be beneficial.

一些觀察家認為，這些安排可能是有益的。

There are a lot of jobs created in the United States because of that relationship.

這種關係為美國創造了大量就業機會。

Ireland is now the sixth largest investor in the U.S., so it's a mutually beneficial relationship.

愛爾蘭現在是美國第六大投資國，是以這是一種互惠互利的關係。

At this juncture, there are well over 150,000 people employed by Irish companies in the

目前，愛爾蘭公司在以下領域僱用了超過 15 萬名員工

Tax competition, this ability of businesses to choose the most friendly place to do business, has actually been a good thing, not just for tax revenue, but also for workers, wages, and economic growth and innovation overall.

稅收競爭，即企業選擇最友好的地方開展業務的能力，實際上是一件好事，不僅有利於稅收，而且有利於工人、工資以及整體經濟增長和創新。

Other countries have pressured Ireland to change its ways.

其他國家也向愛爾蘭施壓，要求它改弦更張。

Importantly, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

重要的是，它們都是經濟合作與發展組織的成員。

They were looking at what multinationals from the U.S. and from Europe were up to.

他們正在研究美國和歐洲的跨國公司在做什麼。

All of this shifting of profits around, avoiding taxes, a lot of political pressure on Ireland.

所有這些利潤轉移、避稅行為，都給愛爾蘭帶來了巨大的政治壓力。

It seems like less so from the U.S. side, funnily enough, even though probably the U.S.

有趣的是，從美國方面來看，似乎沒有那麼嚴重，儘管美國可能也是如此。

Ireland phased out this tax strategy from 2015 to 2020.

愛爾蘭從 2015 年至 2020 年逐步取消了這一稅收策略。

Still, other loopholes persist, bringing major business into Ireland.

儘管如此，其他漏洞依然存在，給愛爾蘭帶來了巨大的商機。

In the U.S., the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.

在美國，2017 年《減稅與就業法案》將最高企業所得稅率從 35% 降至 21%。

The bill also reduced corporations' ability to defer their U.S. taxes on foreign income.

該法案還降低了公司延後對國外收入徵收美國稅的能力。

If you're a U.S. multinational, you are earning profits abroad, you are paying a very low foreign tax on those profits, and we're going to bring you up to some minimum tax rate.

如果你是一家美國跨國公司，你在國外賺取利潤，你為這些利潤繳納的國外稅率很低，我們將使你達到某個最低稅率。

If you never repatriate those profits, then the U.S. will never tax you on that profit.

如果您從未將這些利潤匯回本國，那麼美國將永遠不會對您的利潤徵稅。

Companies like Microsoft and Apple continue to report billions of dollars in deferred taxes.

微軟和蘋果等公司繼續報告數十億美元的遞延稅款。

Think of it like a tab that remains open at the bar.

把它想象成酒吧裡未結清的賬單。

You could be accumulating profits abroad, and then, you know, the neat trick that multinationals played here is you have this big stack of profits accumulating abroad.

你可以在國外積累利潤，然後，你知道，跨國公司在這裡玩的把戲就是你有一大堆利潤在國外積累。

You can go to a financial institution and say, look, I have all these profits abroad.

你可以去金融機構說，你看，我在國外賺了這麼多錢。