A submission by Dublin's Department of Finance argues the EU's competition watchdog interfered with its sovereignty by finding that the iPhone maker's tax arrangements in the country meant it had under-paid corporation tax across the bloc.
The document was submitted almost four months after the penalty was imposed against Apple - which is also appealing.
The row concerns Apple's historic reporting of Europe-wide profits through Ireland, which charges the tech firm only for sales on its own territory at Europe-low rates of 12.5%.
The EU says Apple's use of shell companies in the country meant its European profits were taxed at effective rates under 1% - allowing it to pay 0.0005% tax alone in 2014 - 50 euro for every one million of profit.
Ireland's decision to appeal - rather than take the money - is based around its economy's dependence on multi-nationals.
About 1,000 such firms, attracted by its low headline rate of corporation tax, generate about a quarter of Ireland's entire output and employ 5% of the workforce.
:: Apple boss says EU tax ruling is 'maddening'
Apple, which employs 6,000 staff in Ireland, is believed to pump around €16bn into the local economy annually through salaries, tax and investment.
The centrepiece of Ireland's argument, in this case, is that the authorities in Brussels should have confined themselves to policing illegal state aid that gives an unfair advantage to a particular company.
It says the EU has launched an assault on a policy that Ireland has offered to all foreign companies locating on its soil.
Apple said: "The Commission took unilateral action and retroactively changed the rules, disregarding decades of Irish tax law, US tax law, as well as global consensus on tax policy, that everyone has relied on.
"If their opinion is allowed to stand, Apple would pay 40% of all the corporate income tax collected in Ireland, which is unprecedented and, far from levelling the playing field, selectively targets Apple."
No comments:
Post a Comment