Apple chief executive Tim Cook has branded his company’s €13bn (£11bn) bill in back taxes to Ireland as “maddening” and “political crap”. 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. Had the United States adopted stronger laws on overseas taxation, the decision may have been different, the European Union said.
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But Cook said he was “very confident” the ruling would be overturned on appeal, adding that he thought the commission is trying to harmonise tax rates across the EU. “Here is the truth, in that year we paid $400m to Ireland and that was based on the statutory rate of 12.5 per cent”.
Apple would collaborate with the Irish government if it launched an appeal against the ruling, said Cook, adding that company would still “go forward” with plans on expanding its presence in Cork despite the commission’s attitude. “There should be a public discussion about it”, he said.
Cook rejected accusation by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager that Apple paid just 0.005 percent tax in Ireland in 2014. Now those provisions total about $30 billion, Apple says. He said Apple has “long supported global tax reform with the objectives of simplicity and clarity”, but these changes should come through proper legislative process and “applied going forward – not retroactively”.
Apple was found to be holding over $181 billion in accumulated profits offshore, more than any USA company, in a study published a year ago by two left-leaning non-profit groups, a policy critics say is created to avoid paying U.S taxes. “Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable”, Mr Cook said.
Cook refutes the Commission’s claim, Ireland is refusing to accept the “owed” taxes, the USA government might consider launching an appeal against the ruling. No one did anything wrong here and we need to stand together.
“In 2014, our worldwide income tax rate was 26.1%.I personally think that’s a reasonable level”, Cook told RTE. Cook said: “We have a 37-year-old marriage with Ireland and it means something to us …”
“If it was up to me, the confidential version would have been published yesterday”, said Vestager.
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She said Apple’s sweetheart tax deal with Ireland amount to “illegal state aid”. “There wasn’t a special deal between Ireland and Apple”. Apple immediately refuted any wrongdoing and has already said the Irish government will appeal. That’s how we feel.
