EU hits Apple with €13 billion Irish tax demand

Apple Ireland disagrees on the tax amount, which is demanding The European Commission. According to the EC, Apple has to pay to Irish treasure about €13 billion ($14.5 billion), an official statement was released on Tuesday.

EU, Apple and Dublin loot at the situation with so-called unpaid taxes in Ireland in a different way. Every side has its own arguments. Apple management considers the demand of Ireland for paying unpaid €13 billion as a hit on “the important spirit of economic partnership between the U.S. and the EU”.

In fact, other giants like Starbucks Corp, Amazon.com, McDonald’s Corp have been ordered to pay up to €30 million euros ($33 million) to the Dutch treasury. The European Commission (as the EU’s executive arm) is ruling this issue now.

Margrethe Vestager, EU Competition Commissioner, answered the question about an arrangement that allowed Apple to pay a tax rate of 0.005 percent:

“Tax rulings granted by Ireland have artificially reduced Apple’s tax burden for over two decades, in breach of the EU state aid rules. Apple now has to repay the benefits.”