Apple is facing $14 billion tax in EU court
As early as 2016, the EU determined that Apple had serious tax evasion in Ireland, and the EU also required Apple to pay a total of 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in taxes. Although Apple has already paid the money to Ireland last year, the Irish government does not want it, and now Apple is jointly appealing to the EU Intermediate Court with Ireland. Why is the Irish government unwilling to accept this huge amount of tax? Why does the European Commission have to let Apple pay these taxes to Ireland?
Earlier, the EU ruled that Apple had serious tax evasion in Ireland and asked Apple to pay almost $15 billion in back taxes to Ireland. In fact, these taxes are exempted by Apple based on Irish tax incentives, but the EU believes that this act is not legally required to return these taxes to Ireland. Although Apple is also very dissatisfied, after all, the court’s ruling is valid, so Apple has already paid all the taxes already recognized by the EU to Ireland last year. The EU mainly believes that Apple sells a large number of products in the EU region and receives high income, but Apple has not paid the corresponding taxes in accordance with EU law.
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Apple and many multinational companies have set up their headquarters in the European Union in Ireland because Ireland offers better tax incentives than other EU member states. For the EU, Ireland’s tax incentives may hurt the EU’s interests, after all, more and more technology companies choose to set up their headquarters in Ireland. Based on Ireland’s tax incentives, these technology companies pay very little tax, so these technology companies can earn a lot of income with reasonable tax avoidance.
The EU feels that this practice in Ireland is certainly not acceptable for the long-term development of the EU, so the EU has determined that Apple is illegal and must pay taxes to Ireland. But now Apple and Ireland have jointly appealed to the EU Intermediate Court, and Apple’s Chief Legal Officer led the top legal team of six to attend the legal trial. As for the final results, it is still unclear, but if Apple’s violations are ruled, it will eventually change the current tax situation of technology companies and Ireland.
Via: CNET
