Apple faces the record bill after the European Commission ruled that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid. This was a particular drain on the country’s two top universities, which were producing some top engineers and IT pros. The other 28 developed countries in the Organisation for Economic Development utilize a territorial system, which means the country taxes income earned in their country but welcome the return of money earned overseas tax-free.
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Most British citizens already feel a simmering fury at the Irish-centred tax dodges engineered by many global companies. Chinese officials say they want the G-20, created to coordinate the response to the 2008 financial crisis, to take on a longer-term regulatory role.
Sinn Féin and PBP-AAA are opposed to the government’s appeal of the Apple tax ruling. CEO Tim Cook described the ruling as ” total political crap”, and the White House decried a “unilateral” approach to rewriting global taxation norms.
The commissioners argue that the Dublin government allowed Apple an unfair advantage to set up a base in Ireland by doing a deal that saw the firm pay a corporate tax rate of no more than 1% when thousands of other businesses had to pay at 12.5%. “The EU Commission’s overreach in this regard, is unbelievable to us”.
“This is not a decision against the United States of American”, said Juncker.
Mr Cook had warned that if the Irish government did not join it in appealing, it would send the wrong message to business in an economy partly depending on companies such as the tech giant. “But the Commission is now calling to retroactively change those rules”. Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable.
He added: “Those tax rates vary by country because each country gets to select their own rate”.
In a hastily convened meeting, politicians here agreed to appeal the European Union ruling, citing that Apple paid all its due taxes.
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The commission has recently turned its focus to tax laws introduced by member countries that have an obvious aim of attracting investment and jobs by reducing tax bills for multinational corporations. It helped save its economy, and Ireland has no interest in turning back the clock. Immediately after Vestager revealed her decision, Finance minister Michael Noonan said Ireland must launch an appeal against it. Also see how U.S. officials view this move.
