Jean-Claude Juncker: Apple deal amounts to tax evasion

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has criticised Apple’s tax deal in Ireland, saying it amounted to tax evasion.

He said Europe does not accept powerful companies getting “illegal backroom deals” on their taxes.

“The level of taxation in a country like Ireland is not our issue. Ireland has the sovereign right to set the tax level wherever it wants. But it is not right that one company can evade taxes that could have gone to Irish families and businesses, hospitals, and schools,” he said.