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THE IRISH GOVERNMENT says the European Commission’s claim that other countries may be able to seize a slice of Apple’s €13 billion tax bill for illegal state aid is ”entirely unprecedented”.
A briefing document prepared by the Department of Finance and circulated to all TDs last night ahead of a Dáil debate today on the Apple tax controversy reiterates the government’s decision to appeal the ruling.
The paper mostly repeated the coalition’s position on the ruling, which is that no illegal aid was provided by the Irish state and that the commission’s decision is based on shaky ground.
One key aspect of this which was highlighted in the document is the fact that other jurisdictions may be able to claim some of the €13 billion the European Commission has ordered Apple to pay Ireland.
In its finding, the commission said that the amount of unpaid taxes to be recovered by the Irish authorities “would be reduced if other countries were to require Apple to pay more taxes on the profits recorded by Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe”.
Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe were the two key companies at the centre of the commission’s investigation.
Other claims
The commission said that other countries may have a case to claim some of the potential fine “if they consider that Apple’s commercial risks, sales and other activities should have been recorded in their jurisdictions”.
It added: “The amount of unpaid taxes to be recovered by the Irish authorities would also be reduced if the US authorities were to require Apple to pay larger amounts of money to their US parent company for this period to finance research and development efforts.”
So far the organisation’s decision has not been published in full, something that has incensed Opposition TDs, so there may be more detail or nuance to this aspect of its ruling.
However, it is a point that the Irish government has taken issue with. The briefing document essentially argues that this provision means that, rather than Ireland granting Apple state aid, other jurisdictions did not collect the tax liable to them.
“This is an entirely unprecedented aspect of the state-aid decision,” it said.
“The concept that Ireland would not be judged to have granted illegal state aid if another jurisdiction had exercised taxing rights over the profits concerned is difficult to understand.”
Speaking in the Dáil today Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that the indication by the Commission that other jurisdictions may be able to claim some of the money “points to a clear contradiction at the heart of the European Commission’s decision”.
“While requiring Ireland to recover the tax sums, the Commission is also acknowledging that the sums may in fact be taxable in other jurisdictions,” he said.
Appeal
The document also notes that Ireland is required to collect the €13 billion from Apple, however it will remain in stasis in a holding account until the result of any appeals are decided.
It said: “The state has a period of two months and 10 days to bring an appeal. The government will now study the decision of the European Commission in consultation with its legal advisors to prepare the grounds for an appeal. The appeal process may take several years.”
“In the government’s view, the European Commission’s decision undermines, impedes and conflicts with the global consensus.”
Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie
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The last thing you should do is listen to ordinary people’s opinions on complex technical topics. Look at Brexit.
Listen to what the technical experts are saying, and they are all to a man saying that Cork city needs to be extended to give it a critical mass which is important for many reasons.
@Fred Jensen: at the cost of the county though. Even the financial rebate being proposed is only for 5 years before review and doesn’t factor in lost revenue to the county council from developments they have already partially paid for.
There is also a concern the the financial model maybe unachievable in the short term for the city council
Majority of ordinary people in the county are dead set against the city council taking over. Increase in rates…no or little investment in these new areas…theyll become back waters.
@Tony Skillington: the extended City Council should have more money to spend as it wouldn’t have to subsidise the rest of the county council. The council of course might struggle
@Tony Skillington: so who is responsible for that traffic jam they call Douglas??
@Michael Collins: that’s in the county at present. So the county
@Tony Skillington: are they? Must people living in Douglas probably aren’t even aware that they are in fact living in the county. The county would have a stronger case if they hadn’t been pushing people out to far flung places to live. Cork is relatively small yet they seem to think living in Mallow and commuting would be better than living near the city.
May as well extend it to Midleton, Mallow, Macroom and Bandon seeing as ye are on such a roll lads.
So is Limerick city now bigger than Cork City ??as they have extended their boundary, and encompassed a far greater population than Cork city..
@Gary Heslin: limerick city doesn’t exist. It is now part of the county limerick. But the old boundary had a greater land area than Cork city has presently with half the population.
@prop joe: Incorrect. Limerick City still exists. It may be a unity authority with the county but it still has a border, as such. Population including suburbs 95k.
Why has Cork City got its own council ?
@sportsmad: like must urban areas it is governed locally. The counties we have presently where drawn up by the British 400 hundred years ago and don’t really make sense anymore. We should look at all county boundaries.
@prop joe: I’d like to see West Limerick and North Kerry join as one county!
@Colm O’Sullivan: I would like to see from west clare to the cork border, from north tipp to the cork border and east waterford to the cork border all come under the cork banner.
It has a bigger population than half of the counties in Ireland as it is, if the proposed expansion is approved, only 2 counties in the Republic will have a bigger population.
have your say