Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Cook said the European Commission’s ruling that the tech giant owes Ireland €13 billion in back taxes is untrue.
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Vestager said she would meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in Washington in September to further discuss the Apple tax case.
The Apple row is the latest spat between Brussels and Washington over company regulation.
On Tuesday, Vestager said that the European Commission’s two-year investigation had found Apple guilty of receiving illegal state aid from Ireland thanks to so-called sweetheart tax deals in 1991 and 2007. We were certainly one of the largest corporate taxpayers in Ireland that year, if not the largest.
“Right now countries ought to be working in partnership to prevent tax evasion and crack down on the unfair practices that have eroded tax bases in the U.S. and around the world, but [the] ruling could make that kind of partnership more hard”, he said.
Shortly after the announcement, a U.S. Treasury spokesperson issued a statement saying the “actions could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the European Union”.
“Companies must now more than ever carefully assess whether any agreements or rulings they receive from national tax authorities are compliant with state aid principles”. “Luxleaks mentioned several European companies having tax deals with Luxembourg”, Berrisch said.
“I think that Apple was targeted here”, he said, Reuters reported.
The EU has ordered coffee chain Starbucks Corp to pay more Dutch taxes while Amazon and restaurant group McDonald’s Corp are still being investigated.
Cook said Apple was committed to expanding its operations in Ireland despite the ruling.
Critics in the US Congress have denounced the move as a predatory money grab that would encroach on US government jurisdiction and ultimately add to the federal deficit. However, he also observed that the case highlighted major flaws in the United States corporate tax system.
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) reacted on Tuesday to news that the European Union (EU) Commission would levy a multi-billion dollar tax on Apple, Inc.
Officials from the United States, the European Union and other G20 economies will meet in Hangzhou, China next week and were due to discuss how to clamp down on global tax avoidance.
Apple could well be seen as the first of numerous large corporations to be fined for their tax avoidance measures and strategies.
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The Obama administration so far has failed to convince a divided Congress to overhaul USA business tax laws, which feature above-average tax rates, encouraging companies to be taxed overseas. “That’s why House Republicans are moving forward with our tax reform blueprint built for growth that will allow more companies to operate in our country, hire our workers, and help grow our economy”.
