The European Union insists the decision to make Apple pay over $14 billion in taxes was not an attack on American business, in an attempt to recruit American investment.
The EU slapped Apple with a $14.5 billion dollar penalty, requiring the American technology corporation to pay decades worth of back taxes to Ireland. (RELATED: EU Levies $14.5 Billion Tax On Apple, INSISTS Ireland Take The Money)
EU taxation chief Pierre Moscovici said that the Apple decision was not, “a message that investors from U.S. companies are not welcome,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Moscovici noted that American companies are, “an important driver of growth and employment in Europe.”
Moscovici defended the Apple penalty, reiterating that he thinks all companies should pay their fare share of taxes.
He is also not worried about backlash from American businesses. Moscovici says the decision was not political or meant to make a statement that Europe is taking action against U.S. commerce, it was a decision “based on facts.”
He’s also perplexed about Ireland fighting the decision. “It is a strange decision, in a way, to say ‘I don’t want your €13bn’ when you could have some social programmes or economic programmes in a country that has been damaged by a crisis — but that’s their own will,” the Irish Examiner reports.
Moscovici wants business to know that the EU is not done investigating companies for colluding with European nations to get favorable tax treatment. He says the EU is “going to go further, with proposals such as a relaunch of the CCCTB [common consolidated corporate tax base] and the establishment of a European black-list of tax havens.”
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