Irish cabinet meeting over EC's Apple ruling adjourned

Irish cabinet meeting to discuss the decision of the European Commission (EC) on Apple was adjourned until Friday, according to a government statement on Wednesday.

"The government meeting will resume on Friday to make a decision on the matter," the statement said.

The statement also said the cabinet had a "thorough" discussion of the EC's decision with regard to Apple, based on a memorandum from Finance Minister Michael Noonan proposing that Ireland should lodge an appeal to that decision.

It said the cabinet received a detailed briefing from Noonan, adding that the cabinet had an opportunity to examine the full text of the EC's decision, which is a "lengthy and complex" document.

The statement said the cabinet was agreed to adjourn the meeting to allow further time to reflect on the issues and to clarify a number of legal and technical issues with the Office of the Attorney General.

According to local media reports, at the cabinet meeting, several independent ministers of Prime Minister Enda Kenny's minority government asked for more time to study the EC's decision before deciding whether to back the appeal process.

Thus, Kenny failed to win cabinet backing for an immediate move to launch an appeal through the Court of Justice of the European Union.

On Tuesday, the EC ruled that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to 13 billion euros (14.5 billion U.S. dollars) to Apple, saying that "selective treatment" allowed Apple to pay tax rate of 1 percent on EU profits in 2003 down to 0.005 percent in 2014.

The findings are a result of the culmination of a three-year investigation by Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager into tax arrangements for Apple, dating back 25 years.

In a statement, the EC said the benefit is "illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid."

In response to Tuesday's EC Apple tax ruling, Noonan said he "disagrees profoundly" with the EC's decision and will seek cabinet approval to appeal the decision.

At the center of the Apple controversy are two of the company's subsidiaries, Apple Operations Europe and Apple Sales International.

These firms were registered in Ireland. However, they were controlled in the United States where they held their board meetings.

Revenue authorities taxed the companies on the basis of their activities in Ireland. However, the EC says both companies should have been taxed by Ireland on the basis of their worldwide income. Endit