Apple’s chief executive says the company has put aside “several billion dollars” to pay tax liabilities in the United States as it repatriates some of its huge overseas earnings. No-one did anything wrong here and we need to stand together.
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In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Cook said Apple will “go forward” with an expansion in Cork, despite the uncertainty caused by the ruling across Europe. The EU imposed a bill of $14.5 billion plus interest after it found out Ireland helped the company by providing state aid over the operating years.
The European Commission says Ireland illegally provided State aid to Apple by not collecting taxes owed by the USA tech giant over a decade. “And I think that (anti-U.S. sentiment) is one reason why we could have been targeted”.
Apple plans to fight the European Union order, which Cook characterized as unfair. The CEO is confident that the ruling would be overturned and Apple would further expand its operations in Ireland.
“I feel like Ireland stuck with Apple when it wasn’t easy to stick with Apple and now we’re sticking with Ireland”, he said.
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Tim Cook told Irish state network RTE in an interview broadcast Thursday that the money, part of profits from 2014, should be brought back to the US next year.
