<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>In many ways, a signature is like a fingerprint: Each one is a completely unique identifier.</p>
<p>But if your signature is more <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-coolest-signatures-in-history-2014-6">Jacob Lew than John Hancock</a>, don't fear <span>-</span> it's possible to improve your autograph in a few quick steps, according to<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> calligraphy expert Laura Hooper of </span><a href="http://lhcalligraphy.com/" target="_blank">Laura Hooper Calligraphy</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<h3>1. Find A Font You Like</h3>
<p>The first step is deciding what kind of style you want. Angular and jagged? Loopy and old-school? Search around online for calligraphy, fonts, and different type faces that appeal to you. Keep track of your favorites and print out their letter samples.</p>
<p>"I usually find fonts I like online at <a href="http://www.myfonts.com/" target="_blank">MyFonts.com</a>," Hooper said. "You can also get inspiration from books and calligraphy stores." </p>
<h3>2. Practice Only The Capital Letters</h3>
<p>Now that you have a font you like, focus on the first letter of both your first and last names to practice.</p>
<p>"For my name it would be L and H," Hooper explained. "The capitals are what make a signature what it is. Think back to elementary school when you were writing your name over and over again and practice these two letters in the different fonts you like. Find your favorite, and try to do it the same way every time."</p>
<p>Once you have the capital letters down, the rest of your signature can be more fluid and abstract.</p>
<h3>3. Write Your New Signature Over And Over</h3>
<p>Practice is the key to improving your handwriting in general, Hooper said, but signing your new signature over and over again is the easiest and fastest way to break the habit of your old signature. </p>
<p>Do it in meetings, while signing checks, at the grocery store, even on a blank notepad while you're watching TV at home.</p>
<p>The goal is to get your hand as used to the new rhythm and style as possible. Eventually, it will become second-nature.</p>

Three Quick Steps To Improve Your Signature

<p dir="ltr"><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Costin Constantinescu/Shutterstock" title_caption="Andrew Jackson could be on his way out." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/555a88d9ecad04cf50000e05-960/andrew-jackson-20.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Costin Constantinescu/Shutterstock</span></p><p class="caption">Andrew Jackson could be on his way out.</p></div><p></p></div></div>It's all about the Tubmans, baby - or at least it could be if the campaign to get the female abolitionist on the $20 bill is successful.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>For 10 weeks the grassroots organization </span><a href="http://www.womenon20s.org"><span>Women On 20s</span></a><span> has </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/people-are-pushing-to-have-these-women-appear-on-the-20-bill-2015-3"><span>asked the public to vote for a pivotal woman</span></a><span> in American history to be represented on printed US money.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>More than 350,000 people cast their votes during the final round last week, and with almost 34% of the vote, Harriet Tubman edged out former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as the people's choice for Andrew Jackson's replacement.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>If Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew agrees to the replacement, Tubman would be the first woman and the first black person to be the face of an American paper currency. Lewis and Clark expedition guide Sacagawea and women's suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony have been featured on the relatively unpopular US dollar coins.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Women on 20s executive director Susan Ades Stone tells Business Insider, "This is a way to literally pay respect to women that is long overdue and can be seen as a step in the right direction toward greater gains in gender and racial equality."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Known as "Moses" to her followers and as "General Tubman" to abolitionist John Brown, Tubman was perhaps the most influential conductor of the Underground Railroad, a network of routes of passage for slaves seeking freedom that lead to the North and Canada.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>After escaping slavery in Maryland by fleeing to the </span>North, <span>Tubman later returned to the South 19 times on missions to escort more than 300 people out of bondage.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>"I was a conductor of the Underground Railway for eight years,"</span> she famously said of her role. <span>"I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Wikimedia Commons" title_caption="Harriet Tubman in 1880." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/555b67fe69bedd960a8b4569-960/harriet-tubman.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p><p class="caption">Harriet Tubman in 1880.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">During the American Civil War, she joined the Union Army as a laundress, cook, and nurse and was eventually recruited as a Union spy. In June 1863 she helped </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Col. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">James Montgomery lead a raid at Combahee River in South Carolina that freed about 750 slaves and distinguished her as the first woman ever to lead a military expedition.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>After the war she advocated for education, the vote for freed slaves, and women's equality and suffrage.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Some have been vocal in opposition to Tubman's election, claiming that having her likeness on US currency would be an offense to her legacy. Others worry it would send a signal that we've achieved a post-racial society, which we haven't. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/14/keep-harriet-tubman-and-all-women-off-the-20-bill/">One Washington Post blogger</a> </span><span>believes putting Tubman on the $20 bill won't fix the problematic political underrepresentation of black women, but will instead mask it. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Ades Stone says Women on 20s strongly disagrees with these sentiments. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>"Tubman sought freedom for herself and all others - men, women, black, and white - to participate in a capitalist society and earn fair wages," she tells Business Insider. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>She says the group doesn't believe putting Tubman on the $20 bill would mask the underrepresentation of minorities or further enable systemic wage inequality. She hopes to have the opposite effect. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>"A main goal of Women on 20s is to have an exemplary woman featured prominently on our currency so that we will be reminded every day of women's value, immense capabilities, and contributions."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Women on 20s" title_caption="What the $20 bill could look like." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5554cb106da811cf6e068e3c-960/tubmanon20.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Women on 20s</span></p><p class="caption">What the $20 bill could look like.</p></div><p></p></div></div>As to claims that someone like Rosa Parks would be a more relevant choice, Ades Stone says that the date someone fought for the common values of freedom and equality seems irrelevant. "The more important message is: the modern quest for progressive change has deep roots and still has room for growth."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>The campaign to represent women on American currency has generated a ton of support including that of <span>President Barack Obama</span> and US </span>Sen. <span>Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois), who introduced legislation to feature a woman on the bill in their respective chambers of Congress.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>And voters shared numerous heartfelt reasons for choosing Tubman.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>"I am not a descendant of slaves, but I certainly don't think you have to be to be grateful to live in a US that is better off because of her hard work and sacrifice," writes one voter on the organization's Facebook page.</span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b4b9a44e-6996-301a-4a0b-b61f77cfb0ed"><span>Women on 20s have presented President Obama with a petition asking him to instruct Lew to circulate these bills in time for the centennial of women's suffrage in 2020. The group is also asking supporters to join a "Virtual March" to the White House by sending messages of support on social media with the hashtag #DearMrPresident.</span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-way-wash-nice-mens-jeans-denim-hang-dry-2015-3">You should never wash your jeans - here's how to clean them</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="4zNDNyczody1pFSVnzcrNewvUQIuNTD1" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Why we could soon see Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/altogetherfool/3542341781/">Flickr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>British finance minister George Osborne said Monday the EU stands ready to provide vital financial aid to Ukraine as the crisis-hit country moved to appoint a pro-Western interim leader after impeaching defiant president Viktor Yanukovych.</p>
<p>"It is very, very early days, early hours, but the people of Ukraine seem to have demonstrated their wish to take their country into the future and to have stronger links with Europe and I don't think we should be repelling that, we should be embracing that," Osborne told reporters in Singapore.</p>
<p>"We should be there ready to provide financial assistance through organisations like the IMF and of course a lot of this will take the form of loans and the like," said Osborne, whose formal title is Chancellor of the Exchequer.</p>
<p>Fears that Ukraine's debt-laden economy is facing default have sparked panic on markets, with bond yields rising sharply and the hryvnia currency losing a tenth of its value in the span of a few weeks.</p>
<p>Osborne, who is in Singapore for a two-day official visit after attending a G20 meeting in Sydney, said the European Union could provide financial aid alongside the International Monetary Fund.</p>
<p>"It is very early days, we have to have of course a legitimate political authority that we can deal with, but there are very encouraging signs in that regard," Osborne said.</p>
<p>The ex-Soviet state's three-month crisis culminated in a dizzying flurry of historic changes over the weekend that saw parliament impeach pro-Russian Yanukovych and call a new presidential poll by May 25.</p>
<p>Ukraine owes nearly $13 billion in debt payments this year -- money it cannot drum up on financial markets because of prohibitively expensive borrowing costs.</p>
<p>Former president Yanukovych in November spurned an historic EU trade deal and secured a $15 billion pledge from Russia, but Moscow now says the deal is on hold following his ousting.</p>
<p>The British finance minister's gesture of support came after the US and EU said they stood ready to aid the Ukraine's battered economy.</p>
<p>US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told the G20 meeting in Sydney that Washington now "stands ready to assist Ukraine as it implements reforms".</p>
<p>EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will fly to Kiev on Monday for a two-day visit that her office said will aim to work out "measures to stabilise the economic situation" in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Lawmakers on Sunday moved to appoint Oleksandr Turchynov, an ally of pro-west former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as interim president, just a day after he was appointed parliament speaker in place of a Yanukovych loyalist.</p>
<p>Tymoshenko, who was thrown behind bars less than a year after Yanukovych came to power in 2010, has also been released from prison.</p>
<p>Yanukovych fled Kiev and went into hiding amid anger over a week of carnage.</p>
<div class="nc_footer">
<p>Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.</p>
</div>
<p></p>

British Finance Minister: EU Is Ready To Provide Financial Aid To Ukraine 

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source">Associated Press/New Zealand Herald, Greg Bowker</p><p class="caption">Melissa Ray, right, and Natasha Wall take part in their wedding ceremony to be one of the first gay couples in New Zealand to be married on Monday. Aug. 19, 2013.</p></div></div>The Treasury Department and IRS announced Thursday that all same-sex marriages will be recognized for federal tax purposes regardless of state residence, allowing gay couples in all states to file joint tax returns.</p>
<p>Here's the full announcement from the Treasury:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><span>WASHINGTON —</span></strong><span> </span><span>The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) </span><span>today ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated as married for federal tax purposes. The ruling applies regardless of whether the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage or a jurisdiction that does not recognize same-sex marriage.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">The ruling implements federal tax aspects of the June 26<sup>th</sup> Supreme Court decision invalidating a key provision of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">“Today’s ruling provides certainty and clear, coherent tax filing guidance for all legally married same-sex couples nationwide. It provides access to benefits, responsibilities and protections under federal tax law that all Americans deserve,” said Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “This ruling also assures legally married same-sex couples that they can move freely throughout the country knowing that their federal filing status will not change.”</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Under the ruling, same sex couples will be treated as married for all federal tax purposes, including income and gift and estate taxes. The ruling applies to all federal tax provisions where marriage is a factor, including filing status, claiming personal and dependency exemptions, taking the standard deduction, employee benefits, contributing to an IRA, and claiming the earned income tax credit or child tax credit.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Any same-sex marriage legally entered into in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory, or a foreign country will be covered by the ruling. However, the ruling does not apply to registered domestic partnerships, civil unions, or similar formal relationships recognized under state law.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Legally-married same-sex couples generally must file their 2013 federal income tax return using either the “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” filing status.</span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Individuals who were in same-sex marriages may, but are not required to, file original or amended returns choosing to be treated as married for federal tax purposes for one or more prior tax years still open under the statute of limitations.  </span></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Generally, the statute of limitations for filing a refund claim is three years from the date the return was filed or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later. As a result, refund claims can still be filed for tax years 2010, 2011, and 2012. Some taxpayers may have special circumstances (such as signing an agreement with the IRS to keep the statute of limitations open) that permit them to file refund claims for tax years 2009 and earlier.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>More to come...</em><br /></span></span></p>

TREASURY AND IRS: All Gay Marriages Will Be Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Apple CEO Tim Cook.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span>The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-been-fined-by-the-eu-2016-8?r=UK&amp;IR=T">ordering</a> Apple to pay $14.5 billion in taxes to Ireland.</p><p>But Ireland <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ireland-doesnt-want-to-ask-apple-for-13-billion-2016-8">doesn't want</a> the money, and Apple <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-has-responded-to-the-eus-decision-to-fine-apple-2016-8">says</a> it shouldn't have to pay.</p><p>And the kind of tax breaks that the EU accuses Ireland of offering Apple are similar to the kind of deals common in - and legal in - the US.</p><h2><span><strong>What happened? </strong></span></h2><p><span></span>This is what the EU <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en.htm">says</a>:</p><p>Apple Inc., which is based in California, set up two companies in Ireland: Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe.</p><p><span></span>According to the <span>European Commission</span>, these companies had no employees or real offices yet realized large profits.</p><p>Apple paid virtually no tax to Ireland, or any country, on these profits because of a former law in Ireland. In the past year, the law was in effect - 2015 - Apple Sales International paid just 0.005% tax, according to the commission.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">EU Competition Commissioner Vestager speaks during an interview with Reuters in Brussels</p></div><p></p></div></div>The EU's Competition Commission is run by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/margrethe-vestager-european-commission-apple-2016-8">Margrethe Vestager,</a> a member of Denmark's social liberal party. The commission is not a tax authority. Instead, its job is to maintain fairness between the member states. And that brings us to the most important part for this story: The commission says this law specifically favored Apple for special treatment.</p><p>When Apple sold iPhones, iPads, and Macs in an EU Single Market nation like France, the commission said Apple would funnel the profits from France to Ireland, and would not pay tax in either place.</p><p>But this is not really about Apple's tax avoidance strategies, which are infamous. <strong>The European Commission's issue is really with Ireland, not Apple.</strong></p><h2><span></span>Aid vs. Tax</h2><p>How's this for a tricky balancing act?</p><p>European Union leaders have no issue with different member nations charging different corporate tax rates. That's why it's acceptable for Ireland to charge businesses a 12.5% income tax, whereas France levies 33.3%.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en.htm">European Commission</a></span></p><p class="caption">The European Commission released this infographic showing how Apple paid virtually no taxes through its Irish companies.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>This is crucial because nations want to maintain autonomy over their fiscal policies. That's part of the ongoing power struggle between individual nations and the EU (remember, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-tax-haven-route-wont-work-for-post-brexit-uk-oecd-says-2016-7">Brexit</a>?) </p><p>What's not acceptable is what the EU <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/overview/index_en.html">calls</a> <strong>"state aid."</strong>  </p><p><span></span><span>This is when a country offers something special that's seen as specifically benefiting an individual company. </span></p><p><span></span>It can be even more basic. If France taxed companies in the north less than those in the south, that's generally state aid in the EU's view. It's the same with trying to get a German company to move to Denmark by abating property taxes for a new headquarters. </p><p>"The view is that not levying taxes that everyone else has to pay amounts to the same result as giving money to just one company," <span>Philipp Werner, a partner in the law firm Jones Day's Brussels office, who's represented multinational companies appealing state aid decisions, told Business Insider. </span></p><p><span>If Apple had just paid the standard 12.5% income tax in Ireland, the country wouldn't have EU leaders upset in Brussels.  </span></p><p>Instead, the commission says Ireland gave Apple <strong>"selective tax treatment"</strong> starting in 1991, with the first of two tax rulings. In effect, Ireland signed off on a scheme where Apple would move money to a stateless "head office" with no meaningful activities.  </p><p><span>"Therefore, only a small percentage of Apple Sales International's profits were taxed in Ireland, and the rest was taxed nowhere," the commission <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2923_en.htm">says</a> in its press release. </span></p><p>Ireland explicitly said this was fine by its standards. But the EU contends that this arrangement "gave Apple an undue advantage that is illegal under EU state aid rules." </p><p>"Apple entered into a deal with Ireland to not pay tax on all those profits," Edward Kleinbard, a professor of law and business at the USC Gould School of Law, told Business Insider. Instead, Apple paid "an arbitrarily small amount to Ireland in return for a vague promise to keep jobs in Ireland."</p><p>Apple and Ireland aren't the commission's first targets. There were <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5880_en.htm">similar rulings </a>against the Starbucks' tax dealings in the Netherlands and a division of Fiat in Luxembourg. </p><h2><span></span><strong>Apple and Ireland have a different view</strong></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Ireland's Finance Minister Noonan attends an interview with Reuters at his office in central Dublin</p></div><p></p></div></div>Apple was one of the first major tech companies to set up shop in Ireland. At the time, in 1980, Ireland was in bad economic shape. Unemployment was high and many left Ireland to try to find work in other countries. </p><p>Low corporate taxes was one way Ireland improved its economy and attract big companies, and Apple was early to benefit. </p><p>Ireland's finance minister, Michael Noonan categorically rejected the notion that this was a special deal for Apple. "The Irish Revenue don't do deals," he told CNBC on August 30. "They issue opinions to clarify a tax situation for individual companies, but we never do deals." </p><p>He continued that Apple doesn't owe any taxes to Ireland. "They may owe it elsewhere, but not to the Irish authorities." </p><p>And to underscore the delicate relationship, Noonan accused the commission of meddling in the policies of sovereign governments. </p><p>For its part, Apple CEO Tim Cook <a href="http://www.apple.com/ie/customer-letter/">shot back,</a> too, saying in an open latter that the European Commission "has launched an effort to rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process." </p><p>Both Ireland and Apple say the company has become a big part of the Irish economy, with 6000 workers there. </p><p>Cook also objected to the ruling being retroactive. Under EU rules, it can compel a country to collect taxes going back ten years from the first date it asked for information.  </p><h2><span><strong>Ireland doesn't want the money</strong></span></h2><p>Here's one of the ironies of this whole situation: The EU is, in effect, ordering Ireland to collect a lot of money. Most, if not all, of those $14.5 billion would go to Ireland, and could be used to pay down debts. </p><p>But Ireland is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ireland-doesnt-want-to-ask-apple-for-13-billion-2016-8">not</a> interested. </p><p>"Although they get a huge amount of money back, they also want to fight it," said Werner of Jones Day. "They're not only thinking about Apple, they're thinking a whole lot of other companies established in Ireland." </p><p>Losing this battle will hurt Ireland's credibility as an inexpensive place to do business, and a place where tax laws are clear and settled. </p><h2><span><strong>Why is the US fighting this? </strong></span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Gleb Garanich</span></p><p class="caption">US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Here's another irony: Y</span><span>ou might think the US would applaud any effort to collect tax from US-based multinationals using Irish subsidiaries to pay less - or zero - tax. But there are a few <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/treaties/Documents/White-Paper-State-Aid.pdf">reasons</a> why the US Treasury department is so vehemently against this EU ruling, and other pending cases targeting companies like Amazon. </span></p><p>One is simple: it wants to protect US businesses, and Treasury says they're being unfairly targeted by this EU crackdown. </p><p>Second, the US wants to preserve tax revenue it hopes one day will come its way. </p><p>Companies like Apple say US taxes are too high, so they keep foreign earnings overseas. But Congress has long debated ways to get multinational American companies to repatriate some of that cash. The Treasury Department says if the Commission wins this case, US companies could use these taxes paid in Europe to offset US taxes. That, it says, "would effectively constitute a transfer of revenue to the EU from the US government and its taxpayers," according to a Treasury <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/treaties/Documents/White-Paper-State-Aid.pdf">white paper</a>. </p><h2><span><strong>What about other European countries? </strong></span></h2><p>In his letter, though, Cook may have stepped into another debate over its aggressive tax avoidance by saying, "<span>A company's profits should be taxed in the country where the value is created." </span></p><p><span></span>This is a different issue. </p><p>If Apple made money in France, but realized those profits in Ireland, it's up to France - and not the EU - to complain and try to get some of that money back.</p><p>The whole reason why Apple's European operations are in Ireland, after all, are for its tax advantages. The question is just whether Apple received illegal special treatment. </p><h2><span><strong>Wait, don't these kinds of tax breaks happen in the US all the time? </strong></span></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>YouTube/Above Reno</span></p><p class="caption">Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada received the kinds of tax breaks that would be illegal in the European Union.</p></div><p></p></div></div>One reason all this might seem odd to Americans is that the special treatment Ireland is accused of giving Apple is similar to incentives American states give companies all the time - and legally. </p><p>Massachusetts, for instance, put together <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/01/13/general-electric-will-announce-tomorrow-that-has-selected-boston-for-global-headquarters-according-official-familiar-with-process/ZYZSu7GorfVTRXM2ZIaabJ/story.html">$145 million</a> in incentives to convince General Electric to move from suburban Connecticut to Boston. </p><p>Never mind that some <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-job-creation-strategies-often-off-base">research</a> suggests these sweetheart deals often <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/idaho/2011/11/02/one-take-on-how-tax-incentives-work/">don't pay off</a>, politicians can't stop offering them.</p><p>When Tesla said publicly it wanted to build a "Gigafactory" to build batteries, states like California, Nex Mexico and Nevada stumbled over themselves to offer the most generous tax breaks. In the end, Nevada agreed to <a href="http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/04/nevada-strikes-billion-tax-break-deal-tesla/15096777/">$1.2 billion</a>  in tax incentives to win the deal. <br /><span></span></p><p><span></span>If these deals were issued by France to attract a company based in Denmark, it would be illegal under EU rules. </p><h2><strong>What about inversions? </strong></h2><p>Some American companies have gone farther than Apple to take advantage of Irish tax breaks. Pharmaceutical firms like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/brent-saunders-allergan-bi-interview-2016-6">Allergan</a> have acquired or formed Irish subsidiaries and then "inverted" - transferring their legal headquarters to Ireland. Even if their headquarters are in the US, they are effectively Irish companies. </p><p>"Inversions are separate, but related," Kleinbard said. Companies that invert "take advantage of an easily manipulated definition of what is a US company." </p><p>Nothing in the European Commission ruling affects inversions. It's up to US authorities to crack down if they want to stop the practice. Congress, for instance, could change tax law to consider a company American if its leadership and most of its workers are based in the US. </p><h2><strong>What's next? </strong></h2><p>Apple, as the most profitable company in the world, and Ireland, with some of the lowest corporate taxes around, made easy targets for the European Commission. But it's clearly not done yet. </p><p>It's targeting <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6221_en.htm">McDonald's</a> for allegedly paying no tax on its earnings in Luxembourg. </p><p>The antitrust regulators are also looking into Amazon. </p><p>Ireland, however, will almost surely appeal the ruling against its dealings with Apple. </p><p>It has a lot more on the line than $14.5 billion. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-james-reacts-kevin-durant-joining-golden-state-warriors-2016-8">Here's how LeBron James reacted when he learned Kevin Durant was joining the Warriors</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VjMHFmNTE6SEQ1ZA3Q4BWQO9T5gxyojD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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