Apple Inc. declined an invitation from a European Parliament committee to attend a hearing on tax evasion June 21.
In a May 31 letter addressed to the chair of the committee, Apple said it turned down the invitation because it does not want public commentary to prejudice the ongoing appeal against a European Commission order to pay up to €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland. Sven Giegold, a German politician and Member of the European Parliament from Germany, tweeted a copy of the letter on June 1.
Claire Thwaites, Apple's senior director of European government affairs, wrote in the letter that the tech giant could hold a private meeting with the head of the special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance, or its members.
In May, Apple deposited the first tranche of €1.5 billion into a Dublin escrow account set up to hold about €13 billion in disputed taxes. The tech giant is returning the alleged state aid as part of its efforts to comply with a European Commission tax order.
The Irish government, however, has filed an appeal with the European courts and said it does not accept the commission's analysis of the Apple state aid ruling.
