Full coverage: Microsoft

There were the billions of euros in corporation tax and the thousands of jobs. Now the US multinational is reporting hundreds of millions of euros’ worth of renewable energy contracts.

Sam Altman and much of the OpenAI team are decamping to Microsoft, where they'll pursue their goal of Artificial General Intelligence. Should we be worried?

Microsoft has just disclosed a multi-billion-dollar dispute with the IRS over the transfer pricing arrangements it put in place two decades ago. Ireland was central to those structures.

The software multinational had more employees, booked more profit and paid more tax here last year than ever. The UK’s success in wresting over €800m worth of taxable profit out of Ireland barely made a difference.

The Exchequer collected a record amount of corporation tax last year. The US software giant was the largest contributor (that we know of), according to new analysis of 13 related companies incorporated and domiciled by the group in Ireland. 

In the latest installment of the Mapping Multinationals series, we unlock Microsoft's Irish presence - the tax tactics, the IP moves and the dividend strategy.

Irish-registered subsidiaries of US-based technology companies have been distributing hundreds of billions to their parents since the start of 2018, illustrating the scale of reserves built offshore through the use of tax schemes over the years.

SuperAwesome, the London-based “kid tech” company established by Irish entrepreneur Dylan Collins, has just added Microsoft to its shareholder register. The company is profitable and brokers want it to go public. So why raise the money at all? Collins tells Ian Kehoe.