Apple tips Ireland to appeal EU tax ruling

CEO Tim Cook says Ireland will “do the right thing” and appeal the EU’s tax ruling against Apple.

“We are completely committed to Ireland,” CEO Tim Cook said. Picture: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said he expects that Ireland’s government will do “the right thing” and appeal against a European Commission ruling that his company owes billions of euros in alleged unpaid taxes.

In an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTE transmitted on Thursday, Mr Cook also said he expects Apple’s own appeal against the decision to succeed.

“I’m very confident that the courts will take a nonpolitical view of this and come to the right decision,” he said.

Ireland’s government met on Wednesday to discuss the Commission’s ruling, but failed to agree on a course of action despite calls from Minister of Finance Michael Noonan to launch an appeal. Lawmakers from the Independent Alliance, which is the junior member in the governing coalition, will meet to discuss the issue on Thursday, before the cabinet meets again on Friday to complete its decision.

“I’m very confident the government will do the right thing,” Mr Cook said. “Clearly the sovereignty of the country is at stake. We all have to stand up and fight for what’s right.”

After a long period of austerity, a windfall of $US14. per cent billion in tax revenues is tempting for many Irish lawmakers and voters, and a number of left-of-center political parties have urged the government to accept the judgment.

However, the ruling Fine Gael party believes a failure to challenge the judgment could threaten future investment by US companies looking to sell in Europe and other parts of the world, a central pillar of the country’s decades-old growth strategy.

Mr Cook said that should the government accept the judgment, Ireland’s attractiveness to foreign investors would be damaged.

“Future investment from business really depends on a level of certainty, “ he said. “People need to know that the law will be upheld.”

However, he said the Commission’s judgment wouldn’t change Apple’s plans to increase its investment in Ireland.

“We are completely committed to Ireland,” he said. “We’re not going to let an invalid, politically-based ruling affect our commitment to Ireland.”

He said the company will pay the required amount into an escrow account, but denied any wrong doing.

“We haven’t done anything wrong, and the Irish government hasn’t done anything wrong,” Mr Cook said. “It’s maddening. It’s disappointing. It’s clear that this comes from a political place. It has no place in fact or in law.”

Dow Jones newswires