Apple accused the European Commission of misunderstanding its business on day two of the iPhone maker’s appeal against a US$14 billion tax order on Wednesday, September 18, reported Reuters.
The case centers on tax rulings granted by Ireland to two Apple businesses in the country: Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe. The rulings reduced Apple’s tax burden for more than two decades, to as low as 0.005% in 2014, according to the Commission.
The Commission ordered the US company in 2016 to pay €13 billion (US$14.4 billion) of taxes it stated were owed to Ireland. But Apple and Ireland, whose economy benefits from hosting a number of multinational firms, are appealing against the decision at Europe’s General Court, its second highest.
Central to the dispute is the importance of the Irish businesses, with Apple lawyer Daniel Beard arguing on Wednesday they were not as significant as the Commission has asserted.
“Yes, Apple CEO Tim Cook said there were decisions taken in Ireland, but not strategic decisions,” he said, referring to Cook’s testimony at a US Senate hearing in 2013 which formed a key element of the Commission’s case.
Apple did not do a special Irish tax deal in return for creating jobs, Beard added.
“The Commission went out of its way to tell a fairy story about supposed benefits to employment. It has no evidence, it is wrong. There was no sense of any special deal. Ireland properly
...THIS ARTICLE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR IP ADDRESS 3.14.150.131
Please verify email or join us
to access premium content!
