30-August, Brussels – Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Competition, speaks out about supposedly unfair tax treatment for Apple in Ireland and orders them to pay a record sum of $14.5 billion plus interest.
The “state aid” provided by Ireland in order for Apple to stay competitive seemed to be against competition regulations of the European Union. Apple is not a startup in need of help and certainly should not receive tax aid packages as per Martin Schulz, German politician.
Irish officials and Apple representatives are now in pursuit to fight that order in law courts of the EU. This is a record order for tax payments and represents the peak of a series of tax fraud cases. While this might not scratch the tech roadmap of the US consumer electronics giant, it will certainly leave a mark in the books.
#AppleTax decision by @EU_Commission well grounded and justified. No company must be too big to avoid taxes, quite the opposite
— Martin Schulz (@MartinSchulz) August 30, 2016
Irish tax rulings to Apple are illegal state aid. Effective taxation as low as 0,005 pct. #Apple has to repay up to €13 billion unpaid tax.
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) August 30, 2016
YouTube: Apple Hit by Record Tax Payment in EU Crackdown
Photo credit: Håkan Dahlström
Source: Dara Doyle, Stephanie Bodoni (Bloomberg) / Martin Schulz (German Social Democratic Party) / Margrethe Vestager (EU Commissioner for Competition)
