A new poll suggests a majority of Irish voters support the Irish government in opposing Apple’s enormous $14.52 billion tax bill for unpaid back taxes in the Republic of Ireland.
47 percent of respondents said they agreed the Irish government was right to back Apple, compared to 39 percent who say it’s wrong to do so, and 14 percent who had no opinion on the subject.
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Apple was handed the bill by European Union competition officials back in August, with the claim being that Apple has taken advantage of illegal state aid allowing it to route profits through Ireland. Investigators alleged that Apple had paid a tax rate of as little as 0.005 percent on its European profits in 2014.
Both Apple and the Irish government quickly rushed to voice their disagreement, however, with Ireland’s finance ministry saying it “disagrees profoundly” with the decision, and would be appealing it.
Apple has long been a big investor in Ireland, where it is a major employer and taxpayer. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Tim Cook has said: “I feel like Ireland stuck with Apple when it wasn’t easy to stick with Apple, and now we’re sticking with Ireland.”
If this particular poll is to be believed, it seems that a democratic majority of Irish voters feel the same way!
Source: Irish Times