Chief Executive Tim Cook on Thursday aggressively fought back against a European Union ruling that the company owed Ireland up to $14.5 billion in back taxes, calling the case “total political crap”.
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In a separate interview on Thursday with Irish state broadcaster RTE, Cook claimed that Apple had paid $800 million in taxes on profits in 2014.
Apple paid taxes at the 12.5% rate – a total of $400 million – in 2014, he said. “Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable”, Cook was quoted as saying by the Irish Independent.
“I think that Apple was targeted here”, he said. His wording – calling the ruling “political crap” – also echoes an interview from late past year surrounding a similar tax evasion topic.
Apple Inc. has been ordered to pay Ireland up to $14.5 billion in unpaid taxes by the European Commission.
“There wasn’t a special deal between Ireland and Apple”, Cook said.
So, why not join with the Commission in encouraging other European countries to seek to reclaim those profits generated by Apple Sales International’s sale of Apple products in their jurisdictions? The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have already appealed the commission’s rulings against their tax deals with multinationals.
“As we work to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth, the G-20 must also remain mindful of the need to redouble our focus on making sure the benefits of growth are broadly shared by all our citizens”, Lew said.
Cook told RTE he was very confident his appeal would succeed and said Apple was committed to expanding its operations in Ireland despite the ruling. Apple was paying far less thanks to an agreement it made with the country back in the 1990s. “I don’t think they’ve been illegal in what they’ve done, it’s the tax system as it’s set up”, said Alliance member John Halligan, a junior minister who does not sit at cabinet.
“Apple has always been about doing the right thing, never the easy thing”.
Lew said that while the Obama administration has failed in its efforts to get tax reform through Congress, he believes the unhappiness expressed by both Democrats and Republicans following Europe’s announcement on Tuesday could push Congress to act.
“I think the right thing here is to stand up and fight against this over-reach”, he said.
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Apple was found to be holding over $181 billion in accumulated profits offshore, more than any US company, in a study published a year ago by two left-leaning nonprofit groups, a policy critics say is created to avoid paying U.S taxes. The U.S. Treasury called the ruling “unfair, contrary to well-established legal principle”. For that reason, USA companies have left an estimated $2 trillion in untaxed foreign profits overseas.
