Apple has responded to the 14.6 billion US dollar tax bill presented to it by the EU. The European Commission argued that as Apple had had its European profits from 1991 to 2005 taxed in Ireland, rather than in the country of sale, it had avoided huge sums of taxation. Silicon Valley has responded defiantly by suggesting that the EU was changing laws “retrospectively”, and even telling shareholders that the decision would be “overturned”. Additionally, Apple's share price only dropped by 1% the morning after the decision was announced. However, it has also been suggested that the damage to the tech giant will not only be financial, but that its reputation will also be affected after being hit with a tax avoidance scandal yet again. Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight, said that the “challenge for Apple now is to ensure they manage consumer perception”, and avoid becoming a negative poster for modern globalisation.Â
