Drawing down Apple tax billions will take months – Ireland’s finance minister

It will take Ireland months to draw down billions of euro in back taxes from Apple following a ruling by Europe’s top court, its finance minister said.

The Irish government said it “will respect” an order to recover more than 13 billion euro in back taxes from Apple, following a decision of Europe’s top court.

Finance Minister Jack Chambers said it will be months before the funds will be drawn down and used.

Mr Chambers said he expected Ireland would get the majority of the back tax funds, but said the total could be subject to “adjustments” by third party countries without specifying which or how many countries were involved.

The Finance Minister would also not be drawn on what the huge amount should be spent on in Ireland and said it would be a matter of discussion for the government ministers and parties.

He also defended Ireland’s decision to spend 10 million euro in legal fees fighting the case, arguing that it was important to protect Ireland’s national tax sovereignty.

A Department of Finance spokesperson said the total costs to the State for the Apple case up until summer 2024 are 10.3 million euro, of which 4.2 million euro relates to the recovery process.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, a former finance minister who made the decision to challenge the case, said if they did not do so it would have sent a message that the government did not have confidence in how tax policy works in Ireland.

“I remain confident that we have always used tax policy in a way that is fair, and tax policy has been implemented by the Revenue Commissioner in a way that is impartial to our tax base,” he said.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) on Tuesday ruled to restore a 2016 European Commission ruling that Ireland gave undue tax benefits to Apple, which would be illegal under EU state aid rules.

Ireland and Apple, which had long argued the correct amount of tax was paid, fought the commission on the matter and in July 2020 the General Court of the European Union annulled the decision.

However, the European Commission subsequently appealed that decision to the CJEU, saying the lower court’s ruling was legally incorrect.

On Tuesday, the CJEU agreed the General Court had “erred” in its decision and ordered the judgment should be set aside, restoring the commission’s original ruling.

The Irish Government said it will “respect the findings”, but said its position remained that Ireland “does not give preferential tax treatment to any companies or taxpayers”.

An Apple representative said the company was “disappointed” with the decision.

“This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to,” they said.

“We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal.

“Apple is proud to be an engine of growth and innovation across Europe and around the world, and to consistently be one of the largest taxpayers in the world.

“The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US.

“We are disappointed with today’s decision as previously the General Court reviewed the facts and categorically annulled this case.”

The commission’s original position was that tax rulings issued by Ireland to Apple in 1991 and 2007 substantially and artificially lowered the tax paid by the iPhone manufacturer in the country since the early 90s, in a way which did not correspond to economic reality.

As a result, competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in 2016 that Ireland had granted illegal tax benefits which enabled the company to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years.

A European Commission investigation found Apple had paid an effective corporate tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003, down to 0.005% in 2014 – 50 euro for every one million euro of profit.

The findings were disputed by Apple and the Irish State, which said all tax owed had been collected. Ireland was also coming under scrutiny in the US for its tax practices years earlier.

At the time, Apple chief executive Tim Cook branded the EU findings “political crap”, maddening and untrue.

On Tuesday, the CJEU said it confirmed the European Commission’s 2016 decision: “Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid which Ireland is required to recover.”

Ms Vestager described the finding as a “huge win for European citizens and tax justice”.

Asked about whether the ruling would damage Ireland’s reputation internationally, Mr Chambers said he did not believe it would as the issue at hand “relates to historic and legacy tax provision” which are “no longer in force”.

He said that Ireland had introduced changes to its tax system and that the global tax environment had changed dramatically over the last decade – with Ireland at the forefront, he added.

“We understand that many do not believe that companies are paying the right amount of tax in the right places.

“We have always said that this type of issue can only be resolved globally, to a stable global consensus for how and where companies should be taxed.”

He also added that Apple remained “very committed to Ireland”.

The 13 billion euro, held in an escrow fund pending the outcome of the case, has risen to 14.1 billion euro as of September 9.

Mr Chambers said there have been “some third country adjustments already made” which had “marginally reduced” the amount in escrow, but said the total amount still remained “in the region of 14 billion”.

“I’m not aware of any further third country adjustments being made, but I can’t predict the likelihood of them occurring in the next couple of weeks.”

He said over the next number of months, the National Treasury Management Agency and Revenue will make a “final determination” on what amount will go to the Irish exchequer.