Apple CEO Tim Cook pens open letter to customers following €13bn tax arrears ruling

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>In a 800 word letter Mr Cook accuses the European Commission of launching an effort to rewrite Apple&&num;8217&semi;s history in Europe&comma; ignoring Ireland&&num;8217&semi;s tax laws and upending the international tax system&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He also highlighted the danger of the ruling to potentially hurt future investment and job creation in Europe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the Apple CEO also took the time to emphasize Apple&&num;8217&semi;s commitment to investing in Ireland and &&num;8220&semi;serving our customers with the same level of passion and commitment&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;As responsible corporate citizens&comma; we are also proud of our contributions to local economies across Europe&comma; and to communities everywhere&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;As our business has grown over the years&comma; we have become the largest taxpayer in Ireland&comma; the largest taxpayer in the United States&comma; and the largest taxpayer in the world&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Cook also said he hoped and believed &&num;8220&semi;the facts and the established legal principles upon which the EU was founded will ultimately prevail&&num;8221&semi; in clearing the name of the multi-national company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We are confident that the Commission’s order will be reversed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;At its root&comma; the Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes&period; It is about which government collects the money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Taxes for multinational companies are complex&comma; yet a fundamental principle is recognized around the world&colon; A company’s profits should be taxed in the country where the value is created&period; Apple&comma; Ireland and the United States all agree on this principle&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Cook accused Brussels of taking unprecedented action&comma; with serious and wide-reaching complications&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Beyond the obvious targeting of Apple&comma; the most profound and harmful effect of this ruling will be on investment and job creation in Europe&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;86218" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-86218" style&equals;"width&colon; 600px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignleft"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;02&sol;image-56&period;jpeg"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;02&sol;image-56&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"Apple CEO Tim Cook" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"325" class&equals;"size-full wp-image-86218" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-86218" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Apple CEO Tim Cook<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Using the Commission&&num;8217&semi;s theory&comma; every company in Ireland and across Europe is suddenly at risk of being subjected to taxes under laws that never existed&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He warned about how US multinationals and others will view the prospect of setting up shop on European soil if the retrospective multi-billion euro bill stands once several years of legal wrangling play out&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Cook said&colon; &&num;8220&semi;It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commission thinks the law should have been&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters&comma; and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And with Apple claiming it did not get a opportunity to defend itself during the watchdog&&num;8217&semi;s investigation&comma; Mr Cook went direct to customers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Taxes for multinational companies are complex&comma; yet a fundamental principle is recognized around the world&colon; A company&&num;8217&semi;s profits should be taxed in the country where the value is created&period; Apple&comma; Ireland and the United States all agree on this principle&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;In Apple&&num;8217&semi;s case&comma; nearly all of our research and development takes place in California&comma; so the vast majority of our profits are taxed in the United States&period; European companies doing business in the US are taxed according to the same principle&period; But the Commission is now calling to retroactively change those rules&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed30517779d">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; 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