Ireland's coalition government has agreed to
Appeal the
European Commission's ruling that it must collect 13 billion euros in back taxes from Apple, according to
Reuters. A motion will come before the country's Parliament on Wednesday seeking an endorsement of that decision, a government spokesperson said.
It was always expected that both
Apple and
Ireland would
Appeal any adverse decision, as insisted by the country's finance minister Michael **onan, but
Ireland's cabinet members became divided on the matter following the ruling. After meeting on Friday, however, the cabinet has seemingly come together and agreed to join Apple's fight against the
European Commission.
Earlier this week, the
European Commission ruled that
Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland, following a
three-year inquiry into the company's tax arrangements in the country. The investigation's results showed that
Apple allegedly paid between 0.005% and 1% in taxes in
Ireland between 2003 and 2014, compared to the the country's headline 12.5% corporate tax rate.
Apple CEO
Tim Cook called the findings "
total political crap" and described the lower end 0.005% tax rate as a "false number." In an
open letter, Cook said
Apple is confident the decision "will be reversed," but the
appeal process could take several years in
European courts.
Apple has previously said it fully complies with international tax law and is the
largest taxpayer in the world.
Cook also said that
Apple has "provisioned several billion dollars for the U.S. for payment," and he forecasted that it could repatriate that cash next year. Europe's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager previously said that
Apple could lower its Irish tax bill by paying appropriate taxes in other countries, or by increasing R&D payments to its U.S. operations.
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Tags:
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