DUBLIN: The Revenue Commissioners will be required to raise a tax assessment on Apple in the coming months when the EU rules that the technology giant’s tax arrangements in Ireland were illegal under state aid rules, as is expected in the coming days.
The Apple tax bill expected to amount to hundreds of millions of euro – is not likely to be transferred to the State immediately, however.
Instead, it may be held in an escrow account pending appeals of the EU’s decision by Apple and the Irish Government. Ministers will continue to insist Ireland did not offer Apple a special deal. Even if the appeals are ultimately lost and the cash reverts to the Irish State, it will not be used for budget spending or investment, according to sources who have been briefed on the issue.
The European Commission is expected to make public in the coming days – perhaps as early as tomorrow or Wednesday – a ruling that Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland constituted illegal state aid.
Officials and Ministers in Dublin are preparing for the EU’s decision and Government Buildings circulated a memo to Ministers over the weekend stressing that Ireland would contest the expected findings. Apple is also certain to appeal the European Commission’s ruling.
According to persons familiar with the briefing, the commission is expected to require the Revenue Commissioners to pursue Apple for back taxes, and is also likely to estimate a figure for the tax bill, though the exact amount will be a matter for the Irish authorities to be calculated using a formula suggested by the commission.
