Tim Cook arrived in Ireland to receive an award that commemorated Apple’s 40 years of investment in the country. He used the occasion to call for global corporate tax reform.
Tim Cook Backs Tax Reform and Data Privacy Regulation
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Cook said:
I think logically everybody knows it needs to be rehauled, I would certainly be the last person to say that the current system or the past system was the perfect system. I’m hopeful and optimistic that they (the OECD) will find something.
“It’s very complex to know how to tax a multinational… We desperately want it to be fair,” he added.
As well as corporate tax reform, Mr. Cook also spoke about data protection. “More regulation is needed in this area,” he said. “It is probably strange for a business person to be talking about regulation but it has become apparent that companies will not self-police in this area.”
Mr. Cook noted that Apple “were one of the first to endorse GDPR.” He said “it is overall extremely good, not only for Europe. We think it’s necessary but not sufficient. You have to go further and that further is required to get privacy back to where it should be.”
Apple initially invested in Ireland in 1980 – it’s first European operation. Mr. Cook described the firm’s commitment to the country as “unshakeable”.