EU finance ministers line up behind tax ruling against Apple
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — 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.”