MacRumors reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been talking to members of the Irish media about the European Commission’s announcement this week that Apple must pay 13 billion Euros in back taxes.
Following up the open letter that he published on Apple’s website earlier in the week, Cook spoke to Paschal Sheehy, the host of Irish radio program Morning Ireland, and told him that the EU Commission’s ruling was “political crap.” After also saying that the ruling was “wrongheaded,” countering that the 0.005% tax rate that the EU claimed Apple was paying was a “false number,” Cook reiterated that Apple is “subject to the statutory rate in Ireland of 12.5%, and that Apple “paid $400m in taxes in 2014.”
When Sheehy asked Cook how he felt about Apple being accused by the EU Commission of having an “illegal” advantage as far as tax benefits were concerned, Cook said he was frustrated by the matter.
When asked if Apple should apologise or had done anything wrong, Cook said “No, we haven’t done anything wrong,” adding, “It’s maddening, it’s disappointing. It’s clear that this comes from a political place and has no basis in fact or law. Unfortunately it’s one of those things we have to work through. When you’re accused of doing something that is so foreign to your values, it brings out an outrage in you and that’s how we feel. Apple has always been about doing the right thing, never the easy thing.”
Cook also referred several times during the interview to the “37-year-old marriage” between Ireland and Apple, which he said was “great for the community.”
Source: Tim Cook Calls Apple's Irish Tax Avoidance Accusations 'Total Political Crap'
Photo credit: @tim_cook
