NewUS accuses EU of grabbing tax revenues with Apple decision
Row over EU tax decision against Apple sharpens
The United States has accused the European Union of grabbing revenue intended for US coffers when it ordered Apple Inc to pay up to US$14.5 billion in back taxes, a decision that could cause friction at an international summit in China next week.
The EU executive this week retroactively scrapped a tax deal Apple had with Ireland, arguing the technology giant was effectively paying a tax rate of a fraction of 1 per cent on its profits.
“I have been concerned that it reflected an attempt to reach into the US tax base to tax income that ought to be taxed in the United States,” US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Wednesday at an event to discuss Washington’s position ahead of a meeting of the Group of 20 industrial nations in China next week.
The Apple row is the latest spat between Brussels and Washington over company regulation. Earlier this month, the Treasury issued a detailed legal argument that the EU Commission’s approach went against European laws.
Lew said making Apple pay higher taxes in Ireland could let the company deduct those payments from what it owes to the United States, reducing US tax revenues.