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THE GOVERNMENT HAS reached an agreement with Apple to start collecting the 13 billion euros owed by the tech giant.
“We have now reached agreement with Apple in relation to the principles and operation of the escrow fund,” Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in Brussels.
“We expect the money will begin to be transmitted into the account from Apple across the first quarter of next year,” he added before a meeting with the EU’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
The European Commission ruled in August 2016 that the iPhone maker must reimburse the Irish state a record €13 billion to make up for what it considered to be unpaid taxes over a number of years.
The ruling stated that tax benefits received by the tech company were illegal under EU rules, because they allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses.
The announcement comes after some tension with Brussels, which referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice in October of this year for failing to collect the back taxes.
The Government must now put the sums in a blocked bank account while waiting for the result of Apple’s and its own appeal to the European Commission.
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Which new year would that be then?
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: give it to the people. Every man, woman and child in Ireland would get about 2.5k. beat the January blues
@Peter Cavey: to the people. Yo mean the french, germans and every other european looking for their share
@Sandra..of course..only touches ‘our’ account when on the Debit side of it
@Peter Cavey: add that to my Irish Water Refund!
This time next year, Rodney, we’ll be millionaires
@Peter Cavey: Think you’re maths are a little off
@Roy Dowling: like your spelling.
@Peter Cavey: just give it to the tax paying citizens you mean…..
How much will we be able to keep?
How many jobs will be cost?
@B9xiRspG: Shhhh, Jim. These practical questions have no place on these forums. Shallow analysis and populist opinions are the only currency here.
@B9xiRspG:
“How much will we be able to keep?”
I think the question is more how much of a loss we’ll make; the Revenue has already said previously that Apple’s effective tax rate on Irish sales has been pretty much what is right, so minus from all but zero the costs of legal fees fighting the EU ruling plus the cost of liasing / organising the payments to all the various EU states should the money have to be distributed as is expected.
@Shane Corry: Ireland is expected to get ‘large majority’ of Apple’s €13 billion unpaid tax bill http://jrnl.ie/3214284
@B9xiRspG: divide the jobs into 13billion and see how much these jobs are costing us including the non direct jobs created outside of Apple. For what it’s worth you can have those jobs. It would be cheaper having those people on the dole. Also most of the people working in the plant are low paid workers & many not Irish & those employed to transport the goods are not even Irish companies who are paying some of their workers as little as €150 a month but we do have our standards yes Jim. Jobs at any cost.
@Mjhint: Shhh, don’t talk any sense to the brainwashed, it will only damage their minds even more.
What will they invest the €13 billion in while waiting for a final decision…….Post Office has very good rates at the moment….Or even Bicoin double the €13 billion in 6 months….
@John003: or they could give it to bertie Ahern to bet on the horses seeing as he was so lucky the last time
Hmmmm. At just 2% deposit interest that makes us €260 MILLION per year in interest..
Do we get to keep the interest from an escrow account??
@john doe: where can you get 2% interest in Ireland?
@Kevin Moylan: Don’t like Bertie but there’s no record of him ever saying that he made money on the horses.
Now, lets see where this governments priorities lie when the few bob comes in.
@The Risen:
I would have thought you would know what an escrow account meant
@Nick Allen: I do. Your point?
@The Risen:
If you do understand escrow then then what is the point of your comment. The government is not getting 13Bn and thus does not have the dilemma of deciding what to spent it on.
@The Risen: if the funds were ever released from the escrow account then my guess is that the govt would have no say in how it is spent, the public sector unions would be on it like a fly to excrement looking for ‘pay restoration’ and anything else they can milk out of it or the country would be ground to a halt through strike action.
@Nick Allen: Have to laugh at you lads with your imaginary crystal balls.
@The Risen:
What is imaginary about an escrow account? You didn’t know what the word meant or you didn’t read the article correctly and messed up and that is the best retort you can come up with. LOL. Well, I suppose it’s a step up from the usual deflection looking at typos or trying to say I have a fake account.
@Sean @114:
The government nor the unions have no authority to touch the funds in the account. It is Apple’s money waiting on the court ruling. Poor old Shinners thought we were getting the cash but didn’t understand escrow and didn’t realise that we do not have any authority to touch the cash
@Nick Allen: yeah I know but it’s sitting there awaiting a ruling so could be released in due course I guess. All hypothetical of course.
@Sean @114:
That’s true, It could be released in the future but that will be many years away. Personally I don’t believe this is just the EU trying to force Ireland to increase corporation tax to remove our advantage over over EU states. The treat of a 13Bn fine will create a little fear with other companies and that’s what the EU is at. They couldn’t give a monkey’s about the 13Bn
@Sean @114: Do you do a lot of guessing, You’re quite the pessimist aren’t you. Most would be happy with the possibility of getting any part of €13billion, but you’ve managed to make it look like a total negative.
@Jointheclubtoo: No not a pessimist, a realist.
Put it in an infrastructure and housing to lure more investment from abroad.
“The announcement comes after some tension with Brussels, which referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice in October of this year for failing to collect the back taxes.”
Taxes – for the little people.
@For Connolly: Taxes only for the little people…….
13 billion would fix the Health Service
@Simon Conneely:
It’s going into an escrow account, that means the money can’t be spent.
@Simon Conneely: Problem with HSE is not money present budget is €14 billion a year….Several years ago it was a billion higher was the health service any better then…NO…
@Simon Conneely: don’t really think so, they are just a bunch of money grabbing scrounges & waste money like there’s no tomorrow { could maybe be used to Reform the hse tho!}
@Simon Conneely: I doubt it.
@Simon Conneely: It’d be a black hole, billions going into admin and management, without any of the vital, resource-starved health departments seeing any of the funds. I’d like to see the Heath service undergo a lot of restructuring before they start pumping more money into it.
@Simon Conneely: Nothing would fix the HEALTH SERVICES
Good. They won’t be long packing their bags when the US corporate tax is reduced and they are incentivised to move home.
Time to collect the money that is owed.
Do you ever get the feeling Apple is extracting the urine?
I bagsy it.
Sur whenever they’re ready, no rush. I might wait till the year after next to pay my tv licence. Hope that’s ok with this gov!
All right. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll show you my idea. I give you the Dublin Monorail!
They will in their nat.
Annnddd… Apple is gone to.. Malaysia :p
Collecting but not using….will be let sit in escrow account and any nett profit goes to Apple while any loss of capital value is the states responsibility…..!?
Just put it off debts straight away.
@The Viking: the debts are being paid off early. Our debt to gdp ratio is well below 100%
Should be going to pay the national debt and then all the other European countries that Apple have a base in will want a cut. So we won’t see a cent…!
13billion in the 1st quarter a year averages out at just under €100k a second, or a million euro every 10 seconds, for 3 months solid. Jaysus that’s a lot of dough. You could buy a house every 5 seconds. It’s nice to dream!!
Let’s get the party started!
Nearly time!
Is this going to be like the Meath County Council bank transfer?
I hope it’s kept to keep Cork afloat once Apple leave.
€1 a day for 13 billion years. We should be getting special deals on iPhones or at least a bloody Apple Store.
@Daniel: I think my math might be a bit out. See what they’ve done, I’m not even thinking straight anymore. Choking on my own rage here.
No doubt they’ll find a way to give it back to Apple. Prob pay no corporate tax at all til it’s repaid…
They will tell us what they want us to hear.. but what proof do we have it is being paid.. and how much
And you can bet your bottom dollar no Irish citizen will feel or see a cent of it
Will it be spent wisely? Will it F#CK!
have your say