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Comment by fauxpause_ | Hacker News Reader

They should be written as a % of profit from the area generating the fine

Given the creativity in accounting possible for multinationals and the difficulty in capturing value added to other areas from activities in an area that's a number with very little actual value.

The accounting is not what matters. What matters is using your brain to to figure out if a fine is actually meaningful.

Comparing to revenue is a stupid way to think about things. Profit is the incentive to conduct business. Not revenue. And not global profit, but in this case Ireland/EU profits only, because that is the location fining them.

People are so eager. Every. Single. Time. To say that a fine does not matter even if it clearly outpaces multiple years of profits for the area given.

> Comparing to revenue is a stupid way to think about things. Profit is the incentive to conduct business

Because it is and it isn't. Companies can make people filthy rich while not making a single dollar of profit thanks to the stock market where the price does grow, broadly, in terms of revenue.

You’re right in that it ought to be compared to the scale of profits, not a percentage, as many run on a loss during growth. But profit is still what matters. Including the promise of future profits.

Talking of the future doesn’t help much because both numbers will change. And punishing a company based on its future state is… not possible

The max fine is 4% of a firm's annual revenue from the preceding year so this is around ~1% of revenue

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