On Tuesday the European Commission will find against Ireland's tax arrangements with Apple, and ask the country to collect over 1 billion euros ($1.119 billion) in back taxes, a report claimed on Monday.
The U.S. Treasury Department issued a special white paper on Wednesday, threatening that it will "consider potential responses" should the European Commsission demand that Ireland collect billions of euros in back taxes from Apple.
In a joint press conference in Paris on Tuesday, the interior ministers of France and Germany called on the European Commission to enact laws that would give countries on-demand access to encrypted communications under some circumstances.
Following a meeting with European Commission chief Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he expects the EU antitrust regulator to reach a decision in its investigation into Apple's Ireland tax agreements by September or October.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is reportedly meeting with the head of the European Union's antitrust efforts, Margrethe Vestager, ahead of an anticipated ruling on whether the Irish government will have to collect back taxes from Apple.
As anticipated, the European Commission on Wednesday pressed a new set of antitrust charges against Google, saying the company is hindering competition by locking in certain Android apps, or even versions of Android, despite it being an open-source operating system.
The European Commission and global media giant News Corp. on Monday confirmed separate actions against Google, with both factions suggesting that Google may be violating European regulations.
There's no way of telling when the European Commission will conclude its investigation into Apple's Irish tax deals, simply because the huge amount of data involved, the Commission's competition head said on Monday.
Ireland has yet to supply all the data asked for by the European Commission in its investigation of the country's tax deals with Apple, a spokesman for the organization said on Wednesday.
Apple is "committed to Ireland," whatever might happen in an European Commission investigation into Irish tax deals, the company's VP of European operations said to a European Parliament panel on Tuesday.
Apple, Google, IKEA, and McDonald's will together face a European Parliament hearing on Wednesday, called amid European Commission investigations into whether such multinationals were given preferential tax deals by some nations.
The European Commission is unlikely to rule on the legality of Apple's tax arrangement with the Irish government any time in the near future, the EU's lead antitrust watchdog said on Monday.
The European Commission is not unfairly targeting American corporations like Apple when it comes to cracking down on tax deals constituting illegal state aid, according to the E.U.'s competition head, Margrethe Vestager.
Earlier on Thursday Apple CEO Tim Cook attended a private meeting in Brussels with Margrethe Vestager, the head of the European Commission's antitrust efforts, presumably in an attempt to diminish the chances of owing billions in back taxes because of the company's Irish tax deals.
Ireland's left-leaning Sinn Fein party could hold Apple accountable for taxes owed following a still-ongoing European Commission investigation, according to a party finance spokesman.
Apple could owe in excess of $8 billion in back taxes after the conclusion of a European Commission investigation into its Irish tax dodges, a new estimate suggests.
The European Commission on Monday ruled that Belgium broke state aid rules by offering tax breaks to a number of multinational corporations, 35 of which will have to repay $765 million.
A European Union investigation into whether Apple's bespoke tax arrangement with the Irish government amounts to illegal state aid has been delayed again, as officials in Brussels continue to gather more information.
The European Union has ruled that Fiat Chrysler and Starbucks must each pay up to 30 million euros, or about $34 million, in back taxes — a decision that could foreshadow similar findings against Apple and Amazon.
The European Commission on Thursday began an antitrust investigation into Amazon's e-book business, addressing concerns the company is unfairly using publisher deals to undercut competition — mirroring earlier cases brought against Apple.
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Roger Fingas
Mikey Campbell
AppleInsider Staff
