Cook refutes the Commission’s claim, Ireland is refusing to accept the “owed” taxes, the USA government might consider launching an appeal against the ruling.
Advertisement
“When you’re accused of doing something that is so foreign to your values, it brings out an outrage in you, and that’s how we feel”. The European Commission also said that Ireland’s tax laws enables Apple in this regard. He told the Irish Independent newspaper that the United States tech giant had not been given preferential tax breaks in Ireland. In 2003 they only paid about 1% of their profits in taxes and in 2014 only 0.005%.
The Apple CEO also described the ruling as “maddening and disappointing”, denying allegations of ever having a special deal with the Irish government.
“I have no idea where the number came from, it is not true”, he said.
The $400m claim was based on the statutory corporate tax rate in Ireland of 12.5 per cent, claimed Cook, who added that Apple’s commitment to Ireland “has not been diminished one iota” by the ruling.
“It’s clear, I believe, to the Irish government, it’s clear to us and it’s clear to the USA officials … there were no special deals”, he said.
Margrethe Vestage, the top competition official for the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said the deal amounted to illegal state aid to Apple from Ireland.
The commission found that Ireland had breached state-aid rules by allowing the California technology group to pay substantially less tax than other businesses since 1991.
He added to the Irish Independent: “I think we’ll work very closely together, as we have the same motivation. This is a decision based on the facts of the case”, she said.
“We haven’t done anything wrong, and the Irish government hasn’t done anything wrong”.
Apple’s tax treatment in Ireland enabled the company to avoid taxation on nearly all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU Single Market.
“We all agree on the need to tackle tax avoidance, but such reform should come from a transparent legislative process within the European Union and through consensus building in worldwide fora”, says Kroes.
“We are completely committed to Ireland”.
Apple said that the decision would be unsafe for occupations. “Because I don’t think the courts will hear any political opinions or feelings, they want the facts of the case and that is what we have to produce”.
Advertisement
Tim Cook: “We actually went into Ireland in 1980”. Two subsidiaries of Apple that is based in Ireland called Apple Operations Europe and Apple Sales International paid over most of their profits to a certain head office.
