The Irish Government is at odds over whether to accept the European Commission’s recommendation that Apple pay $13 billion (£11bn) in back taxes to it.
Advertisement
If any appeal proved unsuccessful, the Irish government would then set the exact amount Apple will have to repay.
The €13bn penalty is the largest ever levied by the commission. After Brexit, the European Union needs a big win to gain face while Apple doesn’t want their reputation tarnished as a tax evader that purposely slid under the law.
Speaking in Brussels, she also dismissed Tim Cook’s assertion that the Apple tax decision was political. The magic circle firm was instructed to advise the tech company on its long-running USA dispute with Motorola and Samsung over smartphone designs.
The tax treatment in Ireland enabled Apple to avoid taxation on nearly all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU Single Market. “That’s very important that comes out of this meeting today”, Transport Minister Shane Ross of the Independent Alliance told reporters before the cabinet meeting. Cook wasconfident that it could be overturned on appeal.
This has been disputed by sources within the European Commission, who say €400 million was much higher than Apple’s total Irish corporate tax liability in 2014.
Cook rejected accusation by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager that Apple paid just 0.005 percent tax in Ireland in 2014.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan described the landmark European Commission verdict on Tuesday as “bizarre” and vowed to challenge the finding that Ireland had given Apple special treatment.
According to the WSJ, Cook told Irish state broadcaster RTE that Apple could repatriate some of its overseas funds in 2017.
The EU has ordered Ireland to recover 13B euros ($14.5B) in back taxes from Apple, claiming they broke the law by giving Apple tax benefits. “Right now, I would forecast that repatriation to occur next year”, he said.
Advertisement
According to Reuters, the United States treasury is not happy, they blasted the decision saying “it undermines the environment in Europe for global business”.
