'Carthy: Government's Apple stance farcical'
Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has labelled the government’s stated commitment to immediately appeal an EU finding against Ireland regarding Apple as “farcical”. The Sinn Féin MEP’s comments came in response to media speculation that the results of the European Commission’s investigation into Irish state aid for Apple may be released this week.
Carthy said:
“In its preliminary findings, the European Commission showed that at a meeting between Revenue and Apple in 1990, a figure of taxable profit was agreed upon without reference to the actual profits of the company, shifted to the manufacturing category with a corporate tax rate of 10 per cent, and then left in place until 2007 despite the massive rise in Apple’s profits over this period. The amended ruling in 2007 calculated a 10-20 per cent increase on Apple’s costs – a figure described by the Commission as 'meaningless in relation to the computer industry'.
“Apple representatives have themselves testified to a US Senate subcommittee that since the early 1990s, the Irish government calculated Apple’s taxable income in such a way as to produce an effective tax rate in the low single digits, which from 2003 has been 2% or less.“In effect, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are saying that the Irish government will actively try to avoid recouping tax revenue owed to the Irish people. It’s farcical. These parties need to get real about the Irish government’s cosy relationship with Apple and its role in facilitating industrial-scale tax avoidance.” ENDS