The intervention of Margrethe Vestager,Europe’s competition commissioner, has ruffled feathersApple boss Tim Cook is furious. How dare Brussels’ meddling competition regulators retrospectively unpick a tax deal that the iPhone-maker had secured from Ireland a quarter of a century ago. What trade is it of theirs? Tax, and after all,is a sovereign issue for each individual member state within the European Union. The European commission’s ruling would have a “profound and harmful effect” on investment and job creation in Europe, he said.His political allies at domestic have waded in too. US Treasury secretary Jack Lew warned last week that the toddle could have a “chilling effect on US-EU cross-border investment”. The US would have to “consider potential responses”. Related: Apple ordered to pay up to €13bn after EU rules Ireland broke state aid laws Related: The Apple tax ruling what this means for Ireland, or tax and multinationals Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com