The European Union slapped Apple Inc. with a ruling that it owes the Irish government more than $14 billion in back taxes.
Naturally, Apple disagreed with the ruling, but the Irish cabinet agreed to appeal the ruling in which the nation was accused of supplying illegal state aid to Apple.
According to the Republic of Ireland's cabinet agreed on Friday to officially appeal the ruling — a decision that is consistent with its prior statement that it "disagrees profoundly" with the EU.
A motion will be presented in the Irish parliament next Wednesday for an official endorsement of the decision.
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The BBC further noted that Ireland is indeed taking a "huge political risk" by essentially ruling against collecting billions of dollars. The government doesn't see it that way and believes its long-term interest is not to be viewed as a tax haven but merely to be transparent regarding its taxation methods.
Moreover, the ruling Irish party, Fine Gael, is operating with a minority government and needs the support of the main opposition party, Fianna Fail.
The opposition party is in favor of an appeal but there is a political motive in doing so. The party wants to see if the Irish government does indeed have a secret tax deal with Apple as has been suggested.
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