Apple has lost its court battle against the European Commission’s ruling that it underpaid €13.1 billion in tax due to Ireland. The lower General Court’s ruling, which had in 2020 reversed the Commission’s decision, has been overruled by the European Court of Justice. After the commission’s initial decision, Apple was required to pay €1.2 billion in interest and €13.1 billion in overdue taxes into an escrow account managed by a separate third party.
According to Minister for Finance Jack Chambers, it will be approximately six months before Ireland receives its €14.3 billion Apple windfall and stressed this money will have no impact on Budget 2025, which is being announced Tuesday, 1 October. Furthermore, Taoiseach Simon Harris has reiterated that the money Ireland is set to receive from Apple cannot and will not be used for day-to-day spending and outlined how the Government will give careful consideration on what the most effective and efficient use of these funds will be. On the other hand, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has stated that the government has acted with gross recklessness and incompetence concerning the Apple case, while Sinn Féin finance spokesperson, Pearse Doherty, outlined how there is a “massive egg on their faces” when referencing Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Ireland’s financial experts have weighed in on the conversation to outline what the €13 billion Apple windfall means for the Irish economy. Dermot O’Leary, Chief Economist at Goodbody Stockbrokers, outlined how this may have significant impacts on Ireland’s net debt levels, with net debt likely to drop to 52 per cent of GNI* to end 2024 in comparison to the 57 per cent initially expected. Kevin Timoney, Chief Economist at Davy, highlighted how €13 billion is not worth as much now as it did in 2016, especially given that corporation tax totalled less than €8 billion in 2016, in comparison to 2024’s approximate figure of €30 billion with annual windfall close to €13 billion. Trinity College Dublin professor, Brian Lucey, had a similar response to Mr. Timoney who stated that this is a relatively small figure and that it won’t really be that transformative at present.
