Apple appealed the decision of Brussels, charged with interference by the Ireland – Challenges.fr

The buildings of Apple in Cork, on October 2, 2014, in the south of Ireland, where the american company employs 6,000 people-AFP/Archives/PAUL FAITH

The us computer giant Apple has appealed the decision of the european Commission requiring it to repay € 13 billion of undue tax advantages in Ireland, announced on Monday a spokesperson of the company to the AFP.

Apple had already made known his intention to appeal after the publication of the decision on 30 August.

“Apple is the largest taxpayer in the world, the United States and Ireland with a total tax rate of about 26%,” stressed the company from Cupertino in a press release.

“As our products and services are created and designed in the United States, this is where we pay the most in taxes,” he added.

According to Apple, the european Commission has “undertaken a unilateral action and changed the rules retroactively, in defiance of decades of law, irish tax, us tax law, and the global consensus on fiscal policy”.

Ireland, which has appealed the November 10, for its part, criticized Monday the Commission of violating its sovereignty in tax matters.

“The Commission has overstepped its powers and violated the sovereignty” of Ireland regarding corporate tax, said the irish department of Finance, in a text of presentation of its arguments in this case.

“The Commission does not have jurisdiction, according to the rules in regard to public aid, to substitute unilaterally its own point of view regarding the geographic scope of the tax policy of a member State to the member State itself,” underlines the text.

The country has a rate of tax on companies is particularly low, at 12.5%.

According to the ministry of Finance, the Commission took the view, wrongly, that Apple had benefited from tax benefits.

“The Commission tries to rewrite the laws of ireland regarding corporate tax,” said the ministry, stating in addition that the investigation of the european executive, which was launched in 2014, had been marked by procedural errors.

The EU “will defend its position before the court,” replied Monday, a spokesman for the Commission, which has published on Monday the detailed investigation having brought to impose on Apple for the refund of € 13 billion.

In this document of 130 pages, the Commission detailed the financial arrangement which to it allowed Apple to escape in large part to tax on its profits in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India.

His technique: save in Ireland, the whole of the profits made on these territories, and then to arrange with Dublin and submit to the tax a fraction of this amount via an agreement (or “ruling”) tax.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on October 27, 2016, during a product launch at the headquarters of Apple in Cupertino, California -AFP/Archive/Josh Edelson

The overwhelming majority of income was, according to the Commission, placed in a “seat” is located outside of the country, a kind of seat phantom on which the irish State has refused to have a right to look.

Thanks to this montage, “the effective tax rate on Apple” fell up to 0.005% in 2014, “which means less than 50 euro tax for each million euros of profit”, had stressed on the 30th of August, the day of the decision, the european commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.

The 13 billion euros to repay, considered as State aid, for the period 2003-2014, the agreement reached by Apple with Dublin not apply more since 2015.

“This is rubbish policy”, had reacted to the Apple boss, Tim Cook.