Sting to Apple for the Ireland case. An exemplary punishment was envisaged for the issue of illegal state aid received from Dublin, but the European Commission has opted for a historic sanction: they are 13 billion euros that Cupertino will have to pay to Ireland to repay the taxes which, according to the EU, it has not paid to Ireland as it should have. A decision announced by Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and which she will certainly raise discussions, given that the US has already accused the European Union of wanting to transform itself into a "supranational tax authority", which rails against successful American companies. And in fact, immediately after the decision came the reaction of the US Treasury: "It could threaten foreign investment in Europe".
In any case, the Irish tax system will determine the exact and definitive amount, even if the Commission's recommendation already quantifies the amount of outstanding taxes that must be recovered and which relate to the period 2003-2014 even if they originate from agreements dating back to the period 1991-2007. It was then that Apple signed a series of tax agreements with the Northern European country, which however, according to the indictment, fall within the category of state aid and are therefore illegal, as they violate European law. According to Vestager, who specified that this "is not a punishment, they are unpaid taxes that must be paid", the US giant had come to pay just 0,005% of profit tax, or 50 euros on every million in profit. Apple will therefore have to repay taxes, which is different from the sanctions imposed on other multinationals such as Microsoft and Edf for competition violations, which have reached a maximum of 1,4 billion requested from the French energy group. The disputed figure to Apple is 40 times higher.
The first accusation came in 2014: Ireland circumvented international tax laws to facilitate Apple's sales on the continent, with a very low tax rate, equal to less than 1% against the 12,5% expected in the country, thanks to the strategic method of the "double Irish", i.e. the tax mechanism that allowed companies to reduce taxes on profits but which has no longer been in force since January 2015. In exchange, Cupertino ensured the maintenance of employment on the island, employing – in Cork City alone – 5.500 people, around a quarter of the employees it has hired across Europe.
Both the company and the country deny the allegations, announcing appeals, and Tim Cook, in one letter addressed to the Apple community in Europe, has already made it known that it will ensure the same commitment on the British island: "Apple - he wrote - is has long been in favor of a reform of international tax regulations, with the aim of having more simplicity and transparency. We believe that these changes should be introduced in compliance with legislative procedures, starting from proposals discussed by the leaders and citizens of the countries concerned. And like all laws, new rules should apply from the moment they come into force, not retroactively. We are not giving up on our commitment to Ireland: we want to continue investing, growing and serving our customers with undiminished passion. We firmly believe that the facts and established legal principles on which the European Union is founded will ultimately prevail”.
Meanwhile in the pre-market Apple lost almost 2% al Nasdaq but once the market started, it reduced the loss to 0,9%.
