The Digital Markets Act fines against the tech giants are the first of their kind and could have reached many billions. Did the EU hold back because of US trade tensions?
Political parties are competing hard on how they will spend windfall corporation tax, but it is hard to see what any of them would do if it dried up.
If I was spending the Apple bounty, I would allocate the funds towards the country’s huge infrastructural deficits. But, if we were forced to invest the funds, I would take a highly selective approach towards any equity investments.
The Currency understands the challenge relates to the watchdog’s inquiry into Apple’s processing of personal data for targeted advertising.
With Budget 2025 imminent, the minister for public expenditure and reform talks about his economic priorities, countering the rise of the far right, and what Ireland’s economy will look like in a decade.
The €13bn Apple tax ruling ensures the competition commissioner is leaving her post with a smile – and with the spotlight once again on Ireland’s relationship with multinationals.
Ireland needs to take the politics out of the Apple money as quickly as possible and use it to galvanise the country’s future. Allocating it to a sovereign wealth fund might not win votes, but it makes much economic and financial sense.
Ireland has spent the last 10 years fighting Europe on Apple while simultaneously rehabbing its reputation and helping rewrite global tax rules. It was a high-stakes approach, but one that has paid off handsomely.
The multinational has warned shareholders of a tax hit from today’s EU court decision against Ireland, but nowhere near the €13 billion set aside in an escrow account. US tax is coming into play.
Ten years on from the start of a formal investigation into Apple’s Irish tax affairs, the European Commission has won its case. Its meaning extends far beyond the collection of back taxes.
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