Ireland

Apple’s European tax rate is likely to increase from 12.5% to 15%, despite Ireland being reluctant to impose the higher rate.

Apple based its European headquarters in Ireland, and has historically funneled most of its revenue from all 27 EU countries through the country in order to benefit from the low rate of corporate tax charged there …

The 12.5% corporate tax paid by Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other companies to Ireland would have to end under a global tax plan orchestrated by the Biden administration – and the Irish government isn’t happy about it.

The G7 nations and the European Union reached agreement in principle that all member countries would impose a minimum corporate tax of 15%. Ireland had previously expressed concern about this, and now says it thinks the rate should be “negotiable” …

The European Union has published a summary of its appeal against the $15.8B Irish Apple tax ruling that decided that the Cupertino company did not have to pay. The EU had argued that Apple had reached an illegal agreement with the Irish government, but a court disagreed.

The EU argues that the judges in that case used “contradictory reasoning” in reaching their decision …

Apple’s Irish campus in Cork is celebrating its 40th birthday, after first opening in 1980 as a single manufacturing facility with just 60 employees.

Since then, the campus has grown in size, role, and controversy …

The Apple Irish tax ruling in July went against the European Union, the judge stating that it had failed to prove that Ireland offered illegal state aid to the iPhone maker. As we predicted then, however, the EU has now lodged an appeal.

The EU did wait until the last minute to do so, making the filing today, the last day of the appeal window …

The Irish tax ruling in July went in Apple’s favor, with the court finding that the European Union had failed to prove that the tax deal Ireland offered to Apple was illegal, and therefore the company did not owe €13B ($15B) in back taxes.

It was widely predicted at the time that the EU would appeal the case. However, the deadline for doing so is this Friday, September 25, and so far no appeal has been lodged…

We today got a ruling in the long-running Irish tax case, but while we can say that Apple won the case, it would probably be more accurate to say that the European Union lost it. The court ruled not that the EU was wrong, but rather that it hadn’t proven its case ‘to the requisite legal standard.’

That’s a polite way for a judge to tell the losing side that they failed to properly prepare their case, and to imply that the outcome would have been different if they’d done their homework …

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In 2016, Apple was ordered to pay 13 billion euros to Ireland as repayment for back taxes at a rate that the EU deemed was illegal. Both Apple and Ireland appealed the judgment.

Four years on, the first round of legal battles have come to a conclusion today: the EU court rejected the ruling which essentially means Ireland and Apple won. However, the EU commission will almost certainly appeal. A final decision on a corporate judgment of this scale will take many, many, years to resolve.

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The Irish tax ruling expected tomorrow will determine whether or not Apple owes the Irish government €13B ($14.8B) in underpaid taxes.

But a new report today says that the Irish government fears that it will lose out no matter which way the decision goes …

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France has announced that it will go ahead with a so-called ‘Apple tax’ this year, whether or not an agreement is reached on an international proposal to ensure tech giants receive the same tax treatment across 137 countries.

France was the first European country to decide to impose a tax on the local revenues of Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon – after President Macron accused tech giants of having ‘permanent tax haven status‘ …

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Officials from 137 governments have begun work on new international tax rules for tech giants. The new rules will be designed to ensure that tech companies pay tax in each of the countries in which they operate, preventing them from funneling profits through to a low-tax country.

This will impact companies like Apple, which used Ireland as its European HQ and funneled profits from Apple Stores throughout Europe…

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Tim Cook is in Ireland to receive an award in recognition of Apple’s 40 years of investment in Ireland. Apple’s CEO is set to collect that award from prime minister Leo Varadkar.

While there, Cook indirectly addressed criticism of Apple’s use of Ireland as its European HQ in order to reduce its tax bill in Europe…

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Apple and other tech giants will in future be required to pay tax in each country in which they sell products and services. Apple, for example, will no longer be able to funnel profits from all European Apple Stores through Ireland as a means of avoiding tax in the countries where the products are actually sold.

The plans were announced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), following more than 130 countries agreeing on the need for global tax reform…

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Apple’s Irish companies were relatively unimportant, according to the iPhone maker’s lawyer. Daniel Beard made the claim in the second and final day of the Irish tax appeal.

On the face of it, that would seem a strange argument for the company to make…

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The two-day Irish tax appeal is underway, with both Apple and Ireland appealing against a ruling that the Cupertino company must pay €13B ($14.3B) in underpaid tax over more than two decades.

Apple isn’t pulling any punches, its lawyer arguing that the ruling ‘defies reality and common sense’ …

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Apple’s appeal against the €13 billion ($14.3 billion) Irish tax ruling is due to begin tomorrow, and chief financial officer Luca Maestri is reported to be heading the team.

Apple is reportedly taking five other execs to help the company make its case in a court case scheduled to last just two days…

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Apple’s appeal against the European Commission’s (EC) ruling that it must pay a massive €13B ($14.4B) in underpaid taxes to the Irish government will finally make it to court next month. The appeal has been scheduled for two days, on September 17-18.

Both Apple and the Irish government appealed the ruling that the sweetheart tax deal offered to the Cupertino company by Ireland amounted to illegal state aid…

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The G20 has set a deadline for a two-prong tax crackdown on tech giants, which could hit companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Uber. The 20 members have agreed to put in place by 2020 measures to stop international companies using tax loopholes to pay less tax than locally-based companies.

One of the arrangements used by Apple has been cited as an example of this type of loophole …

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A bank has now been appointed to manage the escrow fund for the €13B ($15B) in back-taxes the European Union decided Apple had to pay to the Irish government.

It took some time to agree the arrangements as Apple expects to get the money back at the end of a legal battle expected to take many years, and it will want to ensure the funds have been well invested during that time …

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