BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- The Dutch finance minister urged Apple on Saturday to "get ready" to pay up.
Jeroen
Dijsselbloem and his counterparts from other EU nations lined up behind
a finding that the technology company owes billions of euros due to
more than a decade of improperly low taxation.
Apple's
bill could reach 19 billion euros ($21 billion) with interest, and both
the company and Ireland, Apple's European headquarters, are appealing
the European Commission ruling.
But
as the last day of an EU finance ministers' meeting focused on ways to
harmonize tax rules for multinational companies, Dijsselbloem told
reporters that these "have an obligation to pay taxes in a fair way."
"International
tax loopholes are a thing of the past," said Dijsselbloem, who also
heads the 19-strong group of nations within the EU using the euro
currency. Apple will have to pay back taxes both in the United States
and Europe, he added, "so get ready to do that."
Philip
Hammond, his British counterpart, said the EU was keen "to make sure
that international corporations pay the right tax at the right place."
"That's the fair way to do it, and we are going to make sure it happens," Hammond said.
The
Apple decision is only one of several faulting international companies —
and the countries hosting them — for exploiting European exemptions to
pay minimal taxes. Both Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler are contesting
rulings handed down last year that they are each about 30 million euros
($33 million) in arrears.
The
European Commission hopes to have ready by fall proposals for
multinational companies operating in the EU that tightens up rules on
tax bases. Pushing back against U.S. criticism of the Apple decision, EU
tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Saturday hailed U.S. investment as
an "important driver of growth and employment in Europe."
The commission ruling, he said, "is not a message that investors from U.S. companies are not welcome."
While
Ireland would reap a huge windfall from the extra money, it opposes the
ruling because it has also benefited from the setup. Multinationals
have such huge revenue that small countries can reap big gains even from
low taxes, and they also gain from the jobs created.
Other
countries are expressing interest in any payout, however. Austrian
Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said Austrian, Italian and France
tax authorities are following the case closely with the option of
posting claims, and a senior OECD official attending the meeting
suggested they could have right to do so.
Angel
Gurria, who heads the 35-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, cited the EU Commission ruling on Apple, saying it
invited other nations that might have a claim "to come forward."
Before
turning to tax issues, the meeting focused on Greece. Ministers and
senior EU officials in the Slovak capital urged Athens to speed up
enactment of economic reforms so it can get its hands on the next batch
of bailout cash before the end of October.
Greece,
which depends on the money due from the bailout to stay afloat, has
recently fallen short of reform commitments, stoking concerns of a
flare-up in the country's debt crisis. Because it hasn't delivered on
the reform promises it has made, it can't yet get hold of the 2.8
billion euros ($3.2 billion) due from this current phase of its bailout
program.
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