Irish tell Brussels to take a hike

The Dublin administration said the EU’s competition watchdog had interfered with its sovereignty.

Ireland is appealing against the order to recoup 13 billion euros and will argue that the Commission is attempting to rewrite Irish tax laws and that Apple’s Irish subsidiaries paid all tax which was properly due.

A Department of Finance submission said:

“The Commission has exceeded its powers and interfered with national tax sovereignty.

“The Commission has no competence, under State aid rules, unilaterally to substitute its own view of the geographic scope and extent of the member state’s tax jurisdiction for those of the member state itself.”

“The purpose of the State aid rules is to tackle State interventions which confer a selective advantage. The State aid rules by their nature cannot remedy mismatches between tax systems on a global level.”

The EU Commission’s inquiry found that Ireland’s treatment of Apple allowed the global brand to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales in the entire European single market.

Ireland has decided to appeal against the order that the iPhone maker pay back taxes. The country has structured its economy around attracting multinationals with its low corporate tax rate but left-wing critics have argued accepting the windfall could bring dramatic changes to national coffers during recovery from a recession.