Apple threatens Europe after EU sanction of 13.000 million

This is one of those things that we do not like to read very much since in spite of everything it hurts users in an almost direct way. Apple received a penalty of 13.000 million euros for tax evasion  in Ireland and Europe it sanctions this movement. Now the CEO of the Cupertino company responds with a direct letter to the European Union in perfect Spanish and where we can read things like this: «Over the years we have received advice from the Irish tax authorities on how to properly comply with Irish tax law. In Ireland and in all the countries where we operate, Apple complies with the law and pays all the taxes to which it is required.  

This is the complete letter that describes what happened and what threatens to invest fewer resources and fewer employees for Europe in the event that the problem is not solved and you have to pay such an amount of money:

36 years ago, long before the iPhone, iPod, or even Mac was released, Steve Jobs established Apple's first operations in Europe. By then the company already knew that to serve its European customers it needed a base there. Thus, in October 1980, Apple opened a factory in Cork (Ireland) with 60 employees.

In those years Cork suffered a high unemployment rate and an extremely low volume of economic investment. However, Apple management saw a place rich in talent, capable of growing with the company if it achieved the success it hoped for.

Since then we have continued to work uninterruptedly in Corkeven in periods of uncertainty for our own company, and today we employ almost 6.000 people across Ireland. The vast majority are still in Cork, including some of our first employees, fulfilling the most diverse functions as part of Apple's global project. Countless multinational companies have followed our example by investing in Cork, which today enjoys a more prosperous local economy than ever.

The success that has fueled Apple's growth in Cork comes from innovative products that excite our customers. This success has helped us create and maintain more than XNUMX million jobs across Europe.- Apple employees, hundreds of thousands of app developers doing their best in the App Store, plus other jobs among our manufacturers and suppliers. Countless small and medium-sized businesses depend on Apple, and we're proud that they can count on us.

As citizens and members of a responsible company, we are also proud of our contribution to local economies in Europe and to communities around the world. Our growth over the years has made us the largest taxpayer Ireland, the largest taxpayer in the United States and the largest taxpayer in the world.

During all this time we have received advice from the Irish tax authorities to correctly comply with their tax regulations, the same type of advice that any other company with a presence in the country receives. Apple complies with the law and we pay all the taxes we owe, in Ireland and in every country where we operate.

The European Commission has launched a campaign to rewrite the history of Apple in Europe, ignore Irish tax laws and radically change the international tax system. The August 30 opinion alleges that Ireland granted Apple special tax treatment. This assertion is not based on either fact or law. We never ask for and never receive any kind of special treatment. We now find ourselves in the exceptional situation of being required to retroactively pay additional taxes to a government that claims that we do not owe it anything more than what we have already paid.

The Commission's opinion is unprecedented and its implications are serious and far-reaching. What he is actually proposing is to replace the Irish tax laws with another version, which the Commission thinks it should have been. This would be a devastating blow to the sovereignty of the Member States of the European Union with regard to their own fiscal affairs and the principle of the certainty of the legal regime in Europe. Ireland has announced that it intends to appeal against the Commission's decision and Apple will do the same. We trust that the Commission's order will lapse.

At its core, the case presented by the Commission is not so much about how much money Apple pays in taxes, but about which government collects that money.

Taxation of multinational companies is a complex issue, but there is a universally accepted principle: the profits of a company must be taxed in the country where they create their value. Apple, Ireland and the United States agree on this point.

In Apple's case, most of our research and development takes place in California, so the vast majority of our profits are taxed in the United States. European companies doing business in the United States pay taxes according to the same criteria. However, now the Commission wants to change the rules retroactively.

The decision is obviously focused on AppleBut its most profound and damaging effect will be felt on investment and job creation in Europe. If the Commission's theory were to be put into practice, all companies in Ireland and the rest of Europe would run the risk of being taxed by laws that have never existed.

Apple has long supported tax reform with two goals: simplicity and clarity. We believe that these changes should emerge from an appropriate legislative process, to take into account in its proposals the voice of the leaders and citizens of the affected countries. And as with any other law, the new regulations should apply from now on, not retroactively.

We are committed to Ireland and it is our intention to continue investing there, growing and serving our clients with the same passion and dedication as ever. We firmly believe that the facts and legal principles on which the European Union was founded will prevail.

Tim Cook.

So this issue of the penalty and Cook's quick response, it can go a long way just when there is a little more than a week left until the presentation of the new iPhone 7.