In an interview on an Irish public radio station, Apple CEO Tim Cook again denounced the European Commission’s ruling that his company had dodged $14.5 billion in taxes and said Apple would begin moving its profits back to the U.S. “When you’re accused of doing something that is so foreign to your values, it brings out outrage in you”. More than just lip service, Cook had plenty of nice things to say about the country and the 37-year “deep relationship” it’s had with Apple.
Advertisement
Apple and the Irish government have both continually denied any wrongdoing, Cook stating that they had both “played by the rules” and would go on to defeat the Commission on appeal.
The Commission’s investigation found that Apple paid an effective corporate tax rate of one per cent on European profits in 2003, falling to 0.005 per cent in 2014.
It comes a day after Cook accused the EC of endangering investment in the European Union following a demand earlier this week that Apple must pay around €13bn to the Irish government in back taxes.
“They just picked a number from I don’t know where”. The EC said that in terms of its worldwide profits, Apple had created a phony company that allowed it to reduce its tax rate on most of its profits to.005 percent at one point.
Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE, Cook said that Apple had not been given a so-called “sweetheart” deal and that the company was treated as others were in Ireland. Apple also accrued several billion dollars in USA deferred taxes on those profits earned in 2014.
Earlier in the week, Apple was hit by a European Commission ruling to the tune of 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said USA taxpayers could ultimately bear the brunt of the decision, if Apple is forced to make the payment, because the company then could deduct the billions it pays Ireland from the US taxes it owes.
Cook said he would “love” to see the Government appeal the ruling.
Mr Cook also said bias against multinationals from the United States may have been a factor in the decision. “Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable”, Cook said. Companies based in the USA are subject to 35% corporate tax rate on global profits when they bring that money home, though they can also get tax credits for payments to foreign governments.
“I think we’ll work very closely together, as we have the same motivation”. Vestager responded that “the figures we used in our decision were figures we got from Apple themselves and from the 2011 U.S. hearings.Very little if any figures were in the public domain”, she said.
With his comments, Cook echoes criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in the USA, who claim the regulatory ruling could end up costing the American taxpayer.
“We’ve got a long term romance together”, says Cook.
Advertisement
Outside the Fine Gael offices in Dublin, a number of people have dumped apples on the doorstep and impaled the fruit upon the railings.
