On December 18, 2015 Apple's CEO told Charlie Rose on the CBS news show '60 Minutes' that the overseas tax rap was "'Political Crap." So now that the EU Commission has handed down their ruling, penalizing Apple with the largest corporate tax bill on record, what does Apple's CEO really think about it? Nothing has changed, it's still all "Political Crap."

According to Ireland's Independent, "Apple chief executive Tim Cook has angrily dismissed Brussels' tax accusations as 'political crap,' suggesting that Ireland is being 'picked on' and is a pawn in a wider European Commission agenda to harmonise taxes across the EU."

Apple's CEO reaffirmed that "Apple will "go forward" with an expansion in Cork, despite misgivings over future investment across Europe. Cook added that "I think we'll work very closely together, as we have the same motivation. No one did anything wrong here and we need to stand together. Ireland is being picked on and this is unacceptable."

He also said he would "love" to see the Government launch an appeal against the ruling – even though such a move could bring down the government as reported on yesterday. Cook candidly stated that he has "no idea where the number came from. Here is the truth, in that year we paid $400m to Ireland and that was based on the statutory rate of 12.5pc. We believe that makes us the highest taxpayer in Ireland that year." Cook told the Independent that Apple and Ireland had "played by the rules" and would win the case on appeal.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.