The Fine Gael party and Taoiseach Enda Kenny have argued for an immediate decision to appeal the ruling, insisting that it was vital to take immediate steps to safeguard the State’s reputation. That debate has intensified since Ireland has faced nearly a decade of austerity after the financial crisis.
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An Irish government spokesperson said a motion would come before parliament next Wednesday seeking an endorsement.
The tax deal offered Apple “a significant advantage over other businesses”, the Commission said, which amounted to unfair competition and makes it illegal under European Union law. It had allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of one percent on its European profits in 2003, down to as low as 0.005 percent in certain years, according to Vestager.
Apple said it would appeal the decision, and Chief Executive Tim Cook also said he expected the government to do likewise “since the sovereignty of the country is at stake”.
When this was put to Mr Cook at the hearings he said Apple had a tax incentive agreement with Ireland. “Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable”, Cook told the newspaper.
Speaking on Saturday, Director of the OECD Center for Tax Policy and Administration Pascal Saint-Amans called Apple’s tax planning “outrageous” but confirmed the ruling was in line with current regulations.
A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment.
But multinationals such as Apple have created thousands of jobs in Ireland, and many are anxious that the flow of foreign investment could be hurt if the government enforces the EU’s retroactive tax demand. Cook has complained in the past that high U.S. taxes have discouraged the company from bringing those earnings home. “In the year that the Commission says we paid that tax figure, we actually paid $400 million”.
Both Apple and the Irish government have expressed concern about how the upcoming process could impact upon jobs and the economy of the country.
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“I think that was a awful thing to do at the time and there are still people with the same view that Ireland is doing too well in terms of foreign direct investment and they would like to change the 12.5 per cent regime”.
