The European Commission is poised to hand down an adverse ruling against Apple next week following a three-year inquiry into the company’s tax arrangements in Ireland, according to Financial Times.
Expectation of an adverse ruling gathered pace this week after the US Treasury issued a stinging attack on the commission’s investigation, saying the EU executive was becoming a “supranational tax authority” that threatened international agreements on tax reform.
The Brussels-based body, led by competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, has been investigating whether Apple’s alleged “sweetheart deal” with Ireland constitutes illegal state aid, which it determined based on its preliminary findings in 2014.
The commission has accused Apple of sheltering tens of billions of dollars by transferring revenue to multiple subsidiaries in Ireland, where it pays a significantly lower tax rate of around 2%, compared to the country’s headline corporate tax rate of 12.5%.
An adverse ruling could result in Apple owing up to $21.2 billion in back taxes, although a previous study placed the figure around $8 billion, and some analysts believe the amount could be as low as $1 billion.
Apple is one of several large corporations accused of tax avoidance in Europe over the past three years, joining the likes of Starbucks, Fiat Chrysler, Amazon, Google, IKEA, and McDonald’s. Starbucks in particular is currently appealing its case in Netherlands, where it was ordered to pay as much as 30 million euros in back taxes.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has insisted that his company fully complies with international tax law, said last month that it would appeal any unfavorable ruling in European courts. Apple has also said it is the largest taxpayer in the world.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury department warned that an adverse ruling against Apple could “set an undesirable precedent.” It also said the European Commission is becoming a “supranational tax authority,” going beyond acceptable enforcement of competition and state aid law.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tags: corporate tax, European Commission, Europe
Discuss this article in our forums
