Ireland will file an appeal to a European court. This is for the European Commission's decision over Apple's $14.4 billion tax bill. The news has been revealed by Ireland's Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.
According to RTE, Noonan disclosed this to a committee of the European Parliament. The appeal will be lodged in the European Court of Justice. This move is not completely surprising.
Ireland's Friendly Tax Policies
The country is known to have friendly tax policies. In fact, it has attracted American tech companies like Google and Facebook to establish their headquarters in Ireland. Apple is also not an exemption.
The Verge reports that Ireland does not seem to care about receiving $14.4 billion in unexpected tax revenues. It seems to be more concerned about keeping these tech giants. Furthermore, this will make the country even more appealing to other companies.
Ireland Against The EU
Noonan said that Ireland fundamentally disagrees with the Commission's analysis. The decision led them to take an appeal to the European courts. Bloomberg explained that this will test the EU's power to implement its state aid law in national affairs. Member states could argue that this will go against their sovereignty.
The European Commission's argued that there are actually a number of nations that offer tax provisions to certain companies. Apparently, this leads to an unfair and illegal system. According to The Verge, Apple was found to have paid between 1 and 0.0005 percent in annual taxes on its European profits. This covered the year 2003 and 2014.
Apple's Separate Appeal
Apple has already made a separate appeal. The tech company pointed out that the tax bill belongs to the United States. In fact, the US Treasury has gotten into the whole issue. Ireland's appeal will probably result in years of litigation. This is because it is not the only country with such appeal.
