“Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has weighed into the tax dispute between Apple and the European Union, saying the Irish government should write a letter to the EU telling them to ‘f**k off,'” The Daily Mail reports. “Dubbing the EU’s ruling “bizarre”, the outspoken Irishman said: ‘One of the fundamental principles of the European Union is that each country has its autonomy to make its own tax decisions. Frankly the Irish government should turn around – they shouldn’t even appeal the decision – they should just write a letter to Europe and tell them politely to f**k off.'”
The idea that you have the state aid mob – who’ve had more court verdicts overturned than any other department in Europe in the last 20 years – come along 10 years after the fact and say, ‘no we didn’t like that, we think you should have done something else,’ is frankly bizarre. — Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary
“On Tuesday, Europe’s antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager slapped the maker of iPads and iPhones with a 13 billion euro (£11.1 billion) tax bill. She claimed Apple paid just 1% tax on its European profits in 2003 and 0.005% in 2014, and said its arrangement with the Irish government is illegal under state aid rules,” The Daily Mail reports. “Apple is set to challenge the decision, and Mr O’Leary added: “I think there’s no chance of this surviving a court ruling in Europe. There’s certain things that Europe has no competence in.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Well now, there’s a bit of perfect Irish advice for the EU.
Irexit.
SEE ALSO:
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Obama admin worries EU’s Apple decision will cost U.S. taxpayers; Bernie Sanders applauds EU tax demand – August 30, 2016
Ireland doesn’t want Apple’s $14.5 billion in so-called back taxes – August 30, 2016
U.S. Treasury: The European Commission’s retroactive tax demands on Apple are unfair – August 30, 2016
EU demands Apple pay massive $14.5 billion in taxes plus interest – August 30, 2016
Apple CFO Maestri: Despite EU tax ruling, we will continue to invest in Ireland – August 30, 2016
Apple CEO Cook blasts European Commission for ‘ignoring Ireland’s tax laws, upending the international tax system’ – August 30, 2016
European Commission to rule Ireland’s tax arrangement with Apple illegal – August 29, 2016
Ireland prepares for a fight with EU over Apple tax clawback – August 29, 2016
U.S. government warns EU: Do not hit Apple with a massive back tax bill – or else – August 25, 2016
European Commission denies anti-U.S. bias after U.S. Treasury intervention over Apple, Amazon tax probes – August 25, 2016