Apple says will appeal EU tax ruling

The Commission's judgement will likely anger Washington


Afp August 30, 2016
The Commission's judgement will likely anger Washington. PHOTO: REUTERS

BRUSSELS: Apple vowed Tuesday to appeal an EU ruling ordering it to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, saying the decision would harm jobs and investment in Europe.

"We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned," the US company said in a statement after the European Commission decision that Dublin's tax breaks for Apple were illegal.

"It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe."

The Irish government said it would also appeal the ruling.

Apple hit with record 13 bn euro Irish tax bill

The Commission's judgement will likely anger Washington, which has said sweetheart tax deals made by EU countries and US corporations were made under international treaties and accepted tax practices.

Apple accused the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation European Union, of overthrowing longstanding practices.

"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," Apple said.

"The Commission's case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it's about which government collects the money," said the company which insisted it pays its full share of taxes wherever it is in world.

But the Commission said the world's most valuable company avoided tax bills on almost all its profits in the bloc under the arrangements with the Irish government.

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Apple tax ruling could 'undermine' US-EU economic partnership

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday slammed an EU ruling ordering Apple to pay record back taxes, saying the decision threatened the bilateral "spirit of economic partnership".

"The Commission's actions could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the US and the EU," a Treasury Department spokesperson said in a statement.

"We will continue to monitor these cases as they progress, and we will continue to work with the Commission toward our shared objective of preventing the erosion of our corporate tax bases."

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The Treasury Department roundly rejected the reasoning of the commission's decision, even as Apple and the government of Ireland both vowed to file appeals.

"While we decline to comment on specific cases, Treasury is disappointed that the Commission is acting unilaterally and departing from the important progress the US, the EU, and the rest of the international community have made together to combat tax avoidance," the statement said.

"As we have said, we believe that retroactive tax assessments by the Commission are unfair, contrary to well-established legal principles, and call into question the tax rules of individual member states.

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