Apple Boss: €13bn EU Tax Ruling 'Maddening'

Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) chief executive Tim Cook has branded his company's €13bn (£11bn) bill in back taxes to Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) as "maddening" and "political crap".

The tech giant faces the record bill after the European Commission (EC) ruled that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid.

Mr Cook rejected the Brussels audit which found the company's tax arrangements enabled it to pay a tax rate of as little as 0.005% on its European profits in 2014.

That is just £50 in taxes on every £1m of profit.

The Apple boss insisted the numbers had been set out in the company's quarterly accounts and that Apple paid $400m (£300m) corporation tax in Ireland in 2014, the same amount in similarly classed tax in the US, and set aside billions more for tax bills in America that year.

He told Irish broadcaster RTE he was "very confident" the ruling would be overturned on appeal.

"It's maddening. It's maddening and disappointing," said Mr Cook.

"It's clear that this comes from a political place. It has no basis in fact or in law."

He went on: "When you are accused of something that is so foreign to your values, it brings out an outrage in you. That's how we feel.

"Apple has always been about doing the right thing, never the easy thing."

The probe found that Apple's profits were routed via Ireland to virtual head offices that had no employees, no premises and carried out no real activities.

These profits were not subject to tax in any country under provisions of Irish law that are no longer in force.

It meant that one subsidiary, Apple Sales International, paid a tax rate of just 1% in 2003, declining to 0.005% by 2014.

In a separate interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Cook branded Commissioner Margrethe Vestager's ruling "political crap".

"Our commitment to Ireland is unwavering. We are not going to let an invalid ruling, a politically based ruling, affect our deep commitment to Ireland," he said.

Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan has said he disagrees "profoundly" with the decision and is seeking Cabinet approval for an appeal.

Members will have to reach a decision on whether to pursue the unpaid tax and risk the wrath of multinational companies, which the Irish economy depends heavily upon, or to fight the EU ruling.

French finance minister Michel Sapin backed the EC finding, saying the watchdog was "doing its job".