Today the European Commission published an official document by which accuses the Apple company of tax evasion, asking the Irish government to recover 13 billion euros in retroactive tax. Tim Cook published a letter defending Apple and claims that absolutely nothing illegal was done in Apple's taxation, but we all know that paying a tax of 0.005% of the profit is not normal.
Tim Cook announced that he will appeal against the decision announced today by the European Commission, but also that the process is expected to last several years from now. The Americans are confident in their chances of canceling the European Commission's decision, but it is hard to say if they will succeed and how long it will take until everything is done.
Moreover, Apple does not expect this decision to affect the level of tax paid for profit or the liquidities in the accounts in the short term. Despite this, Apple will create a special account in which it will deposit money to collect the amount of 13 billion euros that the European Commission wants recovered now.
The amount from that account will be marked as restricted in its accounting documents, so the money will be collected specifically to pay the tax in case of losing the appeal against the decision. This is a very good decision on the part of the Americans, which demonstrates the fact that they are seriously thinking about the future and solutions so that the decision does not have a negative effect on their evolution.
"We did not expect any short-term impact on our financial results, nor any changes to previous fiscal documents. Until now, I have accumulated and mentioned the US taxes related to the respective incomes. The tax rate mentioned in the documentation regarding the estimation of fiscal evolution in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016 will not change."
Considering that a process can last for years, those from Apple could prolong the situation until 2020, even, and in the end they could avoid paying the whole amount, or only a part. Is this correct? From a moral point of view, definitely not! From a legal point of view, it remains to be seen what the courts will decide.
