EU to hand Apple hefty Irish tax bill

EU Orders AAPL.O to Pay Hefty Tax Bill

Recently, Apple-AAPL.Ohad been orderedby the European Commission antitrust regulators to pay up 13 billion euros around $14.5 billion, by way of taxes together with interest to the Irish government after ruling that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland had been illegal state aid. It is said that Commissioner Margrethe Vestager would be holding news conference on antitrust case towards noon (1000 GMT) in Brussels.

In spite of the subject of the case not provided, she was expected to feature her verdict on why a deal which had stimulated the U.S. tech giant to route vast profits through Ireland had broken EU state aid laws apart from government giving some firms unfair advantages.The decision is probably to annoy Washington who hadblamed Brussels of disturbance against the corporate success stories of U.S.

Ireland had been accused by the European Commission in 2014 of evading international tax rules by permitting Apple to house profits amounting to tens of billions of dollars from tax collectors for maintaining jobs. The accusation had been rejected by Apple as well as Ireland and both have stated that they would be appealing any contrary decision.

Decision – Reverse Engineered

The source had mentioned that the Commission would recommend a figure in back taxes, expecting it to be collected though it would be the decision of the Irish authorities to calculate precisely what are maintained. An excess bill of 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) would have been more far more than the 30 million euros each the EU had earlier ordered the Dutch authorities to pull through, for their tax deals, from U.S. coffee chain Starbucks and Luxembourg from Fiat Chrysler.

 It is said that both the companies have appealed those decisions. In 2014, when it had opened the Apple investigation, the Commission had informed the Irish government that the tax decisions agreed in 1991 and 2007 with the iPhone maker amounted to state aid and could have broken the EU laws.

The Commissioner had mentioned that the decisions were reverse engineered to make sure that Apple had the nominal Irish bill. The minutes of meetings between the representatives of Apple as well as the Irish tax officials had indicated that the tax treatment of the company had been inspired by employment considerations.

EU Executive’s Tax Investigations – Departed from International Taxation Standards

Apple tends to hire 5,500 workers or about a quarter of European based staff in the Irish city of Cork where it seems to be the largest private sector employer stating that it paid 12.5% rate of Ireland on all the income which it tends to generate in the country.

The low corporate tax rate of Ireland which had been a cornerstone of economic policy for 20 years, had drawn investors from most of the important multinational companies, where the staff accounts for nearly one in 10 workers in Ireland. Dublin had been urged by some opposition Irish lawmakers to accumulate whatever tax the Commission tends to order.

 However, the foremost opposition party Fianna Fail, supporting the minority administration relies on passing laws stated that it would assist an appeal depending on the reassurances it had been provided by the government so far. Last week the U.S. Treasury Department had published a white paper which stated that the EU executive’s tax investigations had departed from the international taxations standards and could have been an enormousinfluence on the companies in U.S. The Commission had stated that it tends to treat all companies likewise.

Brexit And Fintech: What Had Happened?

With the Brexit still fresh in people's minds, it's no surprise that the GBP/USD markets have remained relatively stable over the past month.

It all stems back to when the Brexit referendum was first announced. Experts warned the British public that a vote to leave Europe could have a devastating effect on the economy both in the short-term and long-term. While this devastating effect has not as of yet come to light, it cannot be ignored that the Pound has suffered a rather steep decrease in value against the benchmark Dollar.

It was only this week that the United Kingdom announced their GDP growth figures for the second quarter of the year - and that left many economic experts in awe. The UK showed that growth in the majority of sectors has continued to grow, and that consumers are now spending more than ever before in all spaces; such as retail and home improvements. Consumers are not afraid to spend their hard earned cash; which could mean that a potential economic crash isn't so likely after all.

With growth happening in the UK however, the GBP/USD price still hasn't changed much. Currently, the markets are dictated by traders who buy and sell Dollars and Pounds on trading platforms such as CMC Markets; and these traders often set the benchmark for where the currencies move to. In times of uncertainty, such as Brexit, the Pound would drop in value against the Dollar. Likewise, in times of economic growth, the Pound would typically grow in value against in the Dollar.

What makes the whole issue even more interesting is that consumer lending in the UK has dropped quite significantly. Mortgage Approvals through July were down to 60.91K, compared against the 61.9K prediction. Likewise, consumer credit was down to 1.181B, against the prediction of 1.857B. With consumers lending less, and spending more, this has left experts rather puzzled as to where the GBP/USD price is really heading.

In total, Net Lending against dwellings in the UK printed a total of 2.7B veruses a total of 3.1B (expected). Less people are refinancing homes, which could indicate that consumers in the UK have a positive outlook on the financial prospect of the country.

However, all of this needs to take in consideration the most recent interest rate cut by the Bank of England. These statistics have not taken into consideration the most recent cut by BoE; and this cut could have a detrimental effect on the economy as a whole. We will need to wait a few weeks, or even months before we can forecast the short term and long term effects of the interest rate cut.

The UK Job Market Could Hold The Answers

The Anti-Brexit camp often pinned danger on small, medium and large businesses alike; spreading fear through uncertainty. One of the main talking points of the whole debate lay in the proposed fact that businesses would need to make redundancies as UK spending power lessened. As of yet, the job market in the UK has not shown any signs of slowing down or taking a negative hit.

In fact, unemployment has dropped in-line with expectations; leading many to question whether there will be any real short-term negative effects of the Brexit vote.

Looking to the GBP/USD price, it's hard to determine where the countries economics is heading. It was completely expected that the Pound would go down in value after the Brexit vote; due to uncertainty surrounding the economy. With a drop now taken place, the UK continues to amaze investors and traders alike; showing growth in all sectors. It's now whether those traders will turn into a bullish market.

According to the DailyFX Speculative Sentiment Index (SSI), traders are mostly adopting longs on the GBP/USD market. The SSI is often looked at a contrarian indicator, and these figures could show that potential weakness lies ahead.

The true reality is, however, that the UK's economy is growing and nobody can predict whether the economy will continue to grow or will worsen following the actual European exit. It could be two years, or longer, before the UK chooses to leave Europe; and only then will we know the true impact of Brexit.

Twitter Adds A Hidden ‘Night Mode’

Night Mode Added by Twitter to Apps

Night mode has been added by Twitter to its app in an effort that it could be a screening of the next iPhone.The new setting is said to enable the user to turn their background and text contradictory colours which makes the app a dark blue and the writing white.

It could well be a promo of what is in store in the future devices. For instance the iPhone has been rumoured for some time now of getting a night mode across its apps. It would be significant if Apple tends to roll out an OLED screen. OLED screens need to work less hard in producing blacks and which are far richer which means that the designing apps using darker colours assist in preserving the battery life and looks better.

So far, the feature has only been revolved to some apps, only by the developers. Twitter is said to be of the first major apps to provide it. The latest setting can be accessed by going to your own profile on selecting `Me’ tab in the app and click the cog in the top right hand corner. When that’s done, a large list of options tend to come up, one of which will be `turn on night mode’. The feature can also be turned off in the same manner.

Perceive Better While Tweeting in the Dark

The night mode feature enables users to perceive better while tweeting in the dark.The night or dark mode feature tends to ensure that the light which is transmitted from the app on the phone is not severe to the eyes and using a shade which is darker than usual would not have any issue utilising the phone while tweeting at night. It is a good move; in spite of the fact the Twitter app had not a received good rating.

 The social media app had announced the new setting update recently along with a gif tutorial on the use of the night mode option. It enables the user to switch their background and text colours, which automatically tends to change the writing to white, while the app tends to turn dark blue making the bedtime tweeting easy on the eyes. The night mode option of Twitter could be what some tech supporters are presuming could be the first hint at a new software changes which seem to be coming for iOS users.

Users to Adhere to Policies

Ever since Apple had first announced its intention of releasing a new iPhone in September, being speculated as iPhone 7, there were rumours circulating that the updated software would come with a new night mode feature across all its apps, especially if Apple uses the new phone to unveil an OLED screen, according to the report of Independent.

 Twitter had mentioned that `in order to protect the experience and the safety of people using Twitter, there are some limitations on the type of content and behaviour that is permitted. All users should adhere to the policies set forth in the Twitter Rules and failure to do so could result in the temporary locking and/or permanent suspension of account.

Twitter also added some new feature to curb down harassment, providing more control over what one views and who you tend to interact with. The micro blogging network seems to have ample of work to do in convincing the critics particularly with regards to harassment.

FSS Launches New Authentication Platform For Online Transactions

FSS Launched FSS Access Control Service – Secure Authentication Platform

Financial Software and Systems – FSS,the payments technology and transaction processing company, has launched FSS Access Control Server, which is a secure authentication platform that tends to support 3-D Secure Protocol, permitting Card issuers and acquiring banks with the provision of safety to customers at the time of online transactions.

FSS Access Control Server in Mumbai had been launched by Mrityunjay Mahapatra, Deputy Managing Director & CIO, State Bank of India. As per FSS, this platform tends to strengthen the prevailing digital security contributions and matches with the line-up of the services and products provided by it.

The server is said to be Visa and MasterCard certified authentication platform, offering two-factor authentication, which is an extra layer of security for eCommerce and mCommerce transactions. The company had announced recently that utilising FSS Access Control Server Card Issuers and Acquiring Banks tend to protect their customers from the deceitful practice at the time of transactions thus increasing the confidence of the customers as well as the merchant.

The president of Software Products, FSS, Suresh Rajagopalan stated that their highly configurable as well as modular solution would support Card Issuers and Acquiring Banks in controlling as well as in reducing frauds, transactions friction, enhancing end-customer experience.

E-Commerce – Substantial Increase in Card-Linked Cyber Frauds

Mr Rajagopalan had mentioned in a press release that the growth of e-commerce has given rise to substantial increase in card-linked cyber frauds that have become a big cause for concern among performers in the eco-system.He adds that the accomplishment of e-commerce is based on customer trust which can be constructed only by providing the best-in-class controls for data security as well as a safe and secure together with extremely available environment for transacting.

The FSS Access Control Server tends to offer licensed as well as hosted models and tends to assist financial institutions where the data seems to be keep apart and PA-DSS 3.1 compliant.Card issuers can enrol their customers for 3-D secure service with the server, during the first online transaction or directly on the website of the Bank. They can also configure BIN level business rule for individual portfolio of cards like Gold/Silver/Platinum etc. since the platform has made provision of hierarchical based user administration in meeting the corresponding compliance necessities.

Prevention of Frauds – Authenticating Payment

This could be utilised in the prevention of fraud by authenticating payment through the choice of methods by user like a onetime password through short message services, or email or through a static password, besides others.It added that this would enable them to resolve disputes as well as reduce minimise chargebacks with the assistance of authentication history, handling risk with the help of hardware security model established data encryption together with online digital signature generation.

Moreover the transactions could also be monitored in real time. It further added that the solution could be implemented rapidly and with ease since it tends to leverage the prevailing infrastructure, providing APIs for seamless incorporation with external systems.

How to Record Audio and Video from a PC Desktop with Movavi Screen Capture Studio

Would you like to capture a video of your desktop or one of the windows that is open on it? With the help of screen capture software it is now possible to record video footage directly from your screen, which can be a huge benefit if you want to save Skype calls and online video streams, or even create video guides or tutorials.

It is understandable if you’re a bit apprehensive about trying out something like that for the first time, and may even shy away from doing so. That being said you can rest assured that Movavi Screen Capture Studio will make it straightforward and simple with its intuitive and user-friendly approach. All you need to do to use it for desktop video capture is:

1. Define the region of your screen that you want to record by selecting one of the presets or adjusting the capture frame. 
2. Set up the audio source by choosing to record either the system audio or audio from an external device such as a microphone. 
3. Click ‘REC’ to start recording and then ‘Stop’ when it is done. 
4. Click ‘Save’ to save the video.

As you can see there really is nothing to it, and it is just as easy to adjust the frame rate or set up Movavi Screen Capture Studio to capture keyboard and mouse actions. In fact as you explore its features you’ll also see that it is able to edit videos too – which will let you cut and combine video segments, enhance the video quality, add customizable text, include background music, apply special effects or filters, and much more.

Effectively these features will let you not only record audio and video from your PC desktop, but also tweak it so that it turns out precisely the way that you need it to. Whether you use that to create your own video content or simply improve some of the videos that you record is entirely up to you, but suffice to say it makes Movavi Screen Capture Studio an extremely useful tool to have in your arsenal.