“No one did anything wrong here and we need to stand together”, Cook said to the Independent.
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Apple said it is appealing the decision, and CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter discussing the ruling.
“I think it’s a desire to reallocate taxes that should be paid in the U.S. to the European Union”, he added.
He said Apple paid income tax on products sold in an additional income taxes on gains in the USA, and different European nations to those countries at a rate of 35%.
Apple is under fire over allegations it pays little in taxes in Ireland, a country with a low corporate tax rate (12.5%). “There should be a public discussion about it”, he said.
“I’m convinced that would be crystal clear to anyone looking at this from an unbiased point of view”, Cook said of the ruling, announced Tuesday by EU Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.
The European Commission has asked other companies to pay back tax such as Fiat and Starbucks but the amount owed by Apple is ten times more than that by a similar company. “We believe that makes us the highest taxpayer in Ireland that year”, Cook told the Irish Independent. Cook on Thursday said in another interview with Irish broadcaster RTE that he is “very confident” the ruling will be overturned.
Mr. Cook said he expects Apple’s own appeal against EU’s decision to succeed.
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.
Despite the mammoth tax bill, Apple insists it will not abandon Ireland, where it has about 6,000 employees and is planning to build a huge data centre.
And if you shirk at the steep prices of Apple gear now, just imagine how those prices could shoot up should Apple’s tax bill be brought into line with those that don’t have such shrewd accountants.
The in-depth state aid investigation, which the Commission began in 2014, concluded that two tax rulings issued by Ireland to Apple “substantially and artificially” lowered tax paid by Apple in Ireland since 1991.
He also said that the Cupertino, San Francisco-based company will “go forward” with an expansion in Cork, Ireland.
Apple Sales International made research payments totalling $2bn to its parent, Apple Inc, in 2011, which significantly increased in 2014, the Commission said.
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She also rejected Cook’s claim that her decision was politically motivated.
