Ireland didn’t want the EU’s €13 billion tax grab from Apple, but it’ll spend it
Ireland now needs to figure out how to spend an almost €13.8 billion ($15.2 billion) European Commission tax grab that Apple was ordered to pay by the European Union’s top court.
Jennifer Duggan for Bloomberg News:
Ironically, the Irish government has always maintained that it didn’t think Apple owed these taxes. But the EU’s Court of Justice Tuesday backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid laws by giving the company tax benefits that resulted in an unfair advantage.
The money involved has been sitting in escrow since an initial EU court ruling in 2016, and the bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said in a news conference that the taxes “must be released to the Irish state.”
The Irish finance ministry said in a statement that it “respects the findings” even as it continued to insist that “Ireland does not give preferential tax treatment to any companies or taxpayers.” It added that the process of transferring the assets from the escrow fund will now commence.
“It is a complex process which is expected to take a number of months to conclude,” Irish Finance Minister Jack Chambers told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “It is a one-off payment and we will have discussions with party leaders on what next steps will be.”
The funds have been accruing interest since it was paid by Apple into an escrow account. The Irish government said in July the total value of the fund stands at €13.8 billion, after generating €400 million in 2023. The total represents about 15% of the upcoming government budget.
The sudden cash bonanza comes as Irish politicians are expecting the government to call an election in the coming months, adding an extra charge to the debate on how to use it.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course the Irish government will uh, utilize*, it:
Government is like a baby: an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
― Ronald Reagan
*In the spirit of Idiocracy
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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