EU orders Apple pay record $13 bn in Irish taxesAugust 30, 2016 - 15:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union on Tuesday, August 30 ordered Apple to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland, saying deals allowing the U.S. tech giant to pay almost no tax were illegal, AFP reports. In a ruling that is set to anger Washington, the European Commission said the world's most valuable company avoided tax bills on almost all its profits in the bloc under the arrangements with the Irish government. Ireland has been seeking to attract U.S. multinationals by offering extremely favorable tax conditions, known as sweetheart deals. "The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. "In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of one per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014," she said in a statement. Ireland immediately said it would appeal against the decision and Apple is also expected to challenge it, AFP says. "I disagree profoundly with the Commission's decision," Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in a statement. "The decision leaves me with no choice but to seek cabinet approval to appeal the decision before the European Courts." The tax repayment order, by far the largest in the EU's history, follows a three-year inquiry into whether Dublin's tax breaks for Silicon Valley titan Apple amount to illegal state aid. Apple has had a base at the southern city of Cork since 1980 and employs 5,000 people in Ireland, through which it routes its international sales, avoiding billions in corporation taxes. Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. |