Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone on the offensive and has not held back in his criticism of the European Commission (EU). Apple and Ireland have a long standing relationship and Apple has long benefited from the country’s preferred tax regulations. Over the past few years however, the EU has been looking to get their share of the Apple pie and launched an investigation into the special tax treatments.
As a result of this investigation, the EU has passed down a ridiculous ruling ordering Apple to pay back €13 billion in taxes back to the Irish government. According to the report, the EU claims that “Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13 billion to Apple”. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager specifically stated “Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014."
Let’s be clear, this is nothing more than a money grab attempt by the EU and Tim Cook has not wasted time in firing back at the Commission. After detailing the lengthy partnership with Ireland dating back to 1980, he went on to tear a strip off the EU in a statement released after the report. “"The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process” said Cook. Furthermore, he went on to state: “This claim has no basis in fact or in law. We never asked for, nor did we receive, any special deals. We now find ourselves in the unusual position of being ordered to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that says we don't owe them any more than we've already paid.”
On Thursday September 1st, Cook has also doubled down on his criticism of the EU and the ruling calling the it “political crap” in an interview with the Irish Independent. I would encourage you to check out the article, it’s a good read. Here is the link: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/no-one-did-anything-wrong-here-and-ireland-is-being-picked-on-it-is-total-political-crap-apple-chief-tim-cook-35012145.html
Let’s be honest here, the ruling is frivolous and has virtually no chance of being enforced. The EU has no power to tax its members or corporations and is not an official government. Furthermore, Apple has enough clout, lawyers and cash to drag this through the courts for decades.
That being said, Apple versus the EU will be an engaging battle and we will be entertained my a very quotable Tim Cook.
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