His comments came after the European Union ordered the USA -based firm to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes to Ireland plus billions more in interest. Both Ireland, which has made low corporate taxes a cornerstone of its financial policy, and Apple, one of hundreds of US companies with operations in Ireland, have said they’ll appeal the ruling.
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Apple has said it will appeal the European Union ruling, and expects to win.
“Frankly the Irish government should turn around – they shouldn’t even appeal the decision – they should just write a letter to Europe and tell them politely to f**k off”, he said. He claimed Ireland was being “picked on” and that he hoped to see the Irish government launch an appeal against the ruling.
On Tuesday, Vestager said that the European Commission’s two-year investigation had found Apple guilty of receiving illegal state aid from Ireland thanks to so-called sweetheart tax deals in 1991 and 2007.
He told the paper the 0.005 per cent rate it is accused of paying the Commission is a “false number”, saying: “They just picked a number from I don’t know where”. “We paid $400m in taxes to Ireland in 2014… that is one out of every $15 in taxes that were paid in the entire country”, he insisted.
The Apple boss insisted the numbers had been set out in the company’s quarterly accounts and that Apple paid $400m (£300m) corporation tax in Ireland in 2014, the same amount in similarly classed tax in the U.S., and set aside billions more for tax bills in America that year.
A windfall gain for Ireland is bad news for Apple, and it can spark off a trans-Atlantic conflict between Europe and America.
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.
Meanwhile, the EU’s top competition official Margrethe Vestager on Thursday rejected suggestions that the commission’s move against Apple was politically motivated.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Wednesday criticized a European ruling that Apple owes more than $14.5 billion in back taxes. “This is due to Apple’s decision to record all sales in Ireland rather than in the countries where the products were sold”, the European Commission said. “This claim has no basis in fact or in law”, he said.
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The EU opinion said Apple had been given €13bn of “prohibited” tax benefits.
