The government of Ireland has decided to formally submit an appeal against the European Commission regarding its $14.5 billion Apple tax decision. The country's cabinet had agreed in September to team with Apple to appeal against the order requiring the technology giant to compensate Ireland for illegal state aid that it enjoyed.

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Ireland has emerged as an attractive investment destination for many technology companies due to its corporate-friendly tax regime. Apple was found to have paid between 1 and 0.005 percent in annual taxes on its European profits between 2003 and 2014. The US company claims that it followed the country's laws.

The EU's tax ruling was also criticized by the US government as it claimed that Apple tax revenue belonged to the United States. "It reflects an attempt to reach into the U.S. tax base to tax income that ought to be taxed in the United States," US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said.

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that his government "fundamentally disagrees" with the decision. Ireland is willing to let go of the potential tax income from Apple in a bid to retain its low tax environment to attract multinational companies to invest in the country.

The EU decision is aimed at addressing the differential tax structure among its member countries. It had also accused Ireland of offering discriminatory tax deals, amounting to illegal state aid under European law.

The U has made similar observations about other member countries as well. These countries include the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium.