European Commissioner: Strange for Ireland not to take the €13bn Apple payment

The European commissioner for tax affairs has hit out at Ireland’s “strange” decision to appeal the €13bn Apple tax ruling as he confirmed Brussels is considering establishing a “European black list of tax havens” to tackle tax evasion within their borders.

Pierre Moscovici also insisted Brussels knows it is right on the €13bn ruling, during a meeting of EU member states’ finance ministers in the Slovakian capital Bratislava yesterday.

Speaking to reporters as the two-day meeting began, the former French finance minister stressed the EU is not trying to attack Ireland’s corporation tax system and is simply seeking to fight “tax evasion” in the bloc.