Apple must repay record 13 bn euros over Irish tax deal
Apple must repay record 13 bn euros over Irish tax deal
This file photo taken on January 26, 2016 shows the Apple logo at a store in the SoHo neighborhood on January 26, 2016 in New York City.
The European Union on August 30, 2016 orders Apple to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, saying deals allowing the US tech giant to pay almost no tax were illegal.
In a ruling that is set to anger Washington, the European Commission says the world’s most valuable company avoided tax bills on almost all its profits in the bloc under the arrangements with the Irish government.
/ AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Andrew Burton
“The European Commission has concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid,” a Commission statement said.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple’s “selective treatment” in Ireland meant it paid an effective tax rate of just one percent on its European profits in 2003, which then fell to a bare 0.005 percent by 2014.
“The tax treatment in Ireland enabled Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU single market.”
Brussels launched an inquiry into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland in 2014, one of a series of anti-trust cases targeting major US corporations that have angered Washington.
Apple and Ireland are both expected to appeal.
Apple chief Tim Cook said earlier this month he hoped to “get a fair hearing … If we don’t, then we would obviously appeal it”.
Apple has had a base in the southern city of Cork since 1980 and employs 5,000 people in Ireland where it is seen as a prestige high-tech partner and a valued source of jobs.
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