Irish Political Party: We'll Pursue Apple If It Owes Back Taxes

Ireland's left-wing Sinn Fein political party stated that it will come after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) if the tech giant owes back taxes, after the ongoing European Commission investigation Apple Insider reported. A Sinn Fein spokesman said to Bloomberg, "It's ridiculous in the extreme for the government to say no matter what the commission find, no matter how stark the evidence may be, that they're going to appeal this." "This would be tax that would be due from a company that is more wealthy than the entire Irish state."Pearse Doherty, the spokesman for Sinn Fein, already insisted that the political party has no intention of lifting Ireland's 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, and has no desire to initiate moves which may scare off potential investors from Ireland.The Irish political party "is not about being reckless with the economy," Doherty said to Bloomberg. "We have no intention over the term of the government or any indications afterwards of raising the rate."Sinn Fein is dedicated to a 12.5 percent company tax rate which draws companies from Google Inc. to Facebook Inc. to Dublin, Doherty also stated.According to recent Bloomberg Intelligence analysis, Apple may owe over $8 billion in back taxes as a result of a European Commission investigation into its tax policies.To date, Apple has stated that it plans to appeal an adverse ruling. The company continues to be scrutinized by regulators that are blaming Apple of using subsidiaries in Ireland in efforts to avoid paying taxes on revenues not in the United States.