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| Apple tax: Ireland ordered to recoup £11bn by European Commission over sweetheart deal | Apple tax: Ireland ordered to recoup £11bn by European Commission over sweetheart deal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recoup 13 billion euros (£11bn) from Apple over a 'sweetheart' tax deal offered to the tech company. | |
| Following a three-year long investigation, the commission has concluded the tax arrangements between Ireland and the multinational tech firm are illegal. | |
| Ireland’s corporation tax rate is already relatively low at 12.5 per cent, but the commission said Apple’s tax deal meant the firm was paying an effective corporate tax rate of less than 1 per cent. | |
| Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. | |
| “In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.” | |
| Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said that he “disagrees profoundly” with the commission’s findings, and has said Ireland is now seeking to appeal the decision. | |
| In a statement he said: “I disagree profoundly with the Commission’s decision. Our tax system is founded on the strict application of the law.” | |
| He added: “The decision leaves me with no choice but to seek Cabinet approval to appeal the decision before the European Courts.” | |
| Apple is also expected to challenge the ruling, paving the way for an international political and financial dispute over the European Commission’s role and authority. | |
| The commission previously said tax benefits for selected companies amounted to illegal state aid. But Apple insisted it was “subject to the same tax laws as scores of other international companies doing business in Ireland”. | |
| Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland are based on an agreement drawn up in 1991, when Apple was struggling against the PC boom, and another in 2007, which allowed the company to pay a significantly reduced rate of tax on profits over more than 10 years. | |
| More follows |