A group of global activists stormed and occupied several Apple Inc. Stores in France on Saturday in a move aimed at pressuring the company to pay up on a €13 billion ($15.5 billion) tax bill to the European Union.
In a press release, the France unit of the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen's Action organization (Attac), said 100 of its members occupied the Opera Apple Store in Paris, demanding the company pay its taxes. Attac bills itself as an international movement that fights for financial market regulation and the closing of tax havens, among other goals.
Attac said dozens of protests were organized at other Apple AAPL, -0.47% store locations throughout France on Saturday. In the Paris store, where activists were seen via videos circulating on Twitter, pushing past security and hanging a banner that said “We will stop when Apple pays.”
#RuptlyLive: 'We will stop when Apple pays' - ATTAC occupy the Paris Apple Store https://t.co/Ee1a9bAYg0 pic.twitter.com/DpLzmRZjun — Ruptly (@Ruptly) December 2, 2017
PARIS - ATTAC entre de force pour occuper de force un Apple Store. pic.twitter.com/7qRBWFFpAO — Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) December 2, 2017
Security in Paris reportedly evacuated Apple workers from the building as those protests began:
Situation en cours. Les militants attendent la police. pic.twitter.com/AF5lGOs7ej — Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) December 2, 2017
Une partie des militants est menotté aux barrières de l'Apple Store. Ils attendent la police. pic.twitter.com/gUs8k6mP1V — Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) December 2, 2017
Attac claims that Apple’s “tax optimization methods have allowed it to accumulate more than $230 billion in tax havens,” accusing the company of using its Irish subsidiaries to relocate a chunk of those global profits and pay nearly no taxes.
Opinion: How does Apple’s money get from California to Bermuda anyway?
“Apple must stop denying the tax practices highlighted by the European Commission’s investigation, withdraw its appeal to the European Court of Justice and pay its fine of 13 billion euros as quickly as possible,” said Aurélie Trouvé, spokesman for Attac, according to the release. Trouvé added that to verify that Apple is paying correct taxes, the company must “publish its country-by-country reporting now and retroactively over the past few years. “
The European Commission has been in the process of investigating tax arrangements with multinationals across the region. It has referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice for failing to collect around €13 billion in unpaid taxes from Apple, citing illegal tax benefits. Both Apple and Ireland are appealing that decision.
Read: Apple’s gimme shelter tax moves go on ‘endlessly,’ says legal expert
The Paris occupation ended after three hours, but not before activists left protest messages across the screens of devices such as the store’s iPads. Attac said the action was part of the #PhoneRevolt movement aimed at highlighting unfair practices by Apple, that are not just about taxes, but also pollution via extraction of metals for its phones, worker exploitation and driving a global consumption binge.
Cela fait maintenant 2H que ATTAC occupe l'Apple Store. pic.twitter.com/QnvzJzii0t — Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) December 2, 2017
The activists said they would meet with a representative of Apple later. A spokesperson for Apple couldn't immediately be reached for comment:
Tseiqyu on December 2nd, 2017 at 21:25 UTC »
Rend l’argent
wjblance on December 2nd, 2017 at 18:42 UTC »
Brilliant. I don't know why we're not doing the same here in the U.S. regarding the 400 billion in tax payer money robbed by not paying for fiber optic as promised.
Apt_5 on December 2nd, 2017 at 17:00 UTC »
People always joke about the French and white flags but they know how to show up and make their feelings known. Solidarity in expressing public sentiment: they have it down.