Roger Fingas
An Irish legislative committee is reportedly optimistic that Apple CEO Tim Cook will accept an invitation to attend a late January hearing, which will examine the European Commission's ruling that Ireland must collect $14.5 billion in back taxes from the iPhone maker.
An invitation to Cook and other high-level Apple executives was sent out by the chairman of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, John McGuinness, the Irish Times said. Defending and explaining the ruling will be the European Union's Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.
After a lengthy investigation, the Commission concluded in September that Ireland offered preferential tax breaks to Apple, something constituting illegal state aid — under E.U. law, such breaks have to be offered to all companies equally. Similar decisions have been rendered against other countries and businesses.
Both Apple and the Irish government are contesting the ruling. While the latter nominally stands to benefit, it's believed to be concerned about scaring away other multinational corporations, which could take jobs and other economic benefits with them. Apple has already vowed to stay in the country, and even expand its footprint.
The company has insisted that it did nothing wrong and simply followed the law. It and other businesses have long used Ireland as a tax haven, however, exploiting loopholes to pay slim amounts on millions or billions in international revenue. At least some of those loopholes are now being closed.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
12 Comments
If Vestager will be there I don't see any benefit to Mr. Cook also taking part in it, and a couple of reasons why he should not. Let the Irish handle it. Of course only the players themselves have a clue on how they will approach it and if Mr Cook does choose to attend alongside Ms. Vestager it will be with a good gameplan in the briefcase.
Ireland's" tax breaks" (or the absence of a tax present in many other socialist countries) are only illegal to the European Union... not Irish law. Just because one country decides to become less of a burden to its people by exacting less a percentage of their LIVES (tantamount to slavery) doesn't make them a villain. The EU needs to stuff it, and look to their poster child of government-run business success: Greece.
Give Ireland the money, Tim. Don't let yam boy get his tiny fingers on it.
I think that Ireland and Apple should just stall and delay the whole thing for a little bit.
There is a good chance that the EU will not exist soon. More member countries will be telling them to piss off soon, just like the UK did.
And if something no longer exists, then you won't have to worry about paying them any money.