Mr Noonan and Taoiseach Enda Kenny suggested that Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s judgment was driven by malice.
Advertisement
Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan said: “The government has decided unanimously to bring an appeal before the European courts to challenge the European Commission’s decision on the Apple state-aid case”.
Cook made the statement in a recent interview with the Irish Independent, saying the company will go forward with plans to expand in the country, despite the $14.5 billion tax bill, which he hopes the government will appeal.
In October, Brussels ordered U.S. coffee giant Starbucks and Italian automaker Fiat to each repay up to 30 million euros ($34 million) in back taxes to the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively. The companies and the countries affected all deny special treatment was given.
A spokesman for the Irish government said Friday that Ireland’s Cabinet had chose to appeal the decision from Brussels to try to make Dublin reclaim a massive backlog of taxes from Apple, the U.S. tech giant, adding that the next step would be to seek endorsement from parliament. He said Americans could be hurt by the EU’s ruling if Apple is required to make the payment. The Irish government, in exchange for substantial Apple investment and employment in Ireland, taxed that revenue at 0.005 percent through 2014.
“The pattern of actions certainly appears to be highly focused on USA firms”, Lew said.
Deputy leader of opposition party Sinn Fein, Mary Lou McDonald, said the decision to allow Apple to pay such little tax “demonstrates an absolute disregard and disdain for citizens, fair play and tax justice”.
While Ireland doesn’t want the money, the USA government would gladly take it, and even feels as though it is entitled to it, according to Reuters.
International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has called the Canada-EU treaty a gold-plated deal that, once ratified, will give Canada better access to a market of more than 400 million people. This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of European Union member states over their own tax matters, and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe.
Advertisement
Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reports by VOANews.com and Reuters. “The largest actions do appear to be aimed squarely at our tax base”. We want to know. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
