Carthy: ‘We want our money back’
Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has demanded the Irish government immediately
act to recover the €13 billion plus interest owed to the state by
Apple.
Carthy said: “Following today’s ruling by the
Commission, the facts are indisputable. The sweetheart deals provided to
Apple by Irish Revenue in 1991 and 2007 provided an unfair selective
advantage to Apple over its competitors. The result was that this global
technology giant – the second wealthiest corporation in the world – was
paying a rate of just 0.005% tax in 2014.
“How can the Irish
government possibly stand over its claim that no favourable treatment
was granted to Apple when it was paying just 50 euro in tax per million
euro?
“This government and its predecessors have been crippling
local small businesses and households with taxes and charges, and today
they’re on the record as saying they will spend taxpayers’ money to try
to avoid recouping billions owed to it by one of the richest
multinationals in the world."
Carthy,
a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and the Panama
Papers Inquiry Committee, continued: “The Commission’s ruling shows that
Revenue endorsed a scheme in its tax rulings in which Apple was allowed
to artificially internally allocate the profits of two of its
subsidiaries in a way that had ‘no factual or economic justification’
and which violated the arms-length principle. Apple allocated most of
its profits to an imaginary ‘head office’ that didn’t exist anywhere,
meaning it paid no tax on these profits anywhere.
“The
government can claim that this is not Ireland’s problem but it’s plain
for all to see that Revenue actively assisted Apple in avoiding paying
tax anywhere.
“Apple’s method of routing all of its European
sales through its Irish subsidiaries was beyond the scope of this state
aid investigation – but if Apple wants to book all of its sales for
Europe through the Irish state then it needs to pay corporate tax here,
it’s as simple as that.
“The sweetheart deals between Apple
and successive Irish governments have caused massive damage to our
reputation internationally. Appealing the ruling will only worsen this
damage. The decision on whether or not to appeal the ruling must be put
to a vote in the Dáil.
"Sinn
Féin is demanding a public inquiry into the circumstances in which
these tax rulings were issued in order to establish who is responsible.
"The ruling also raises the question: How many other multinationals
have been provided with special tax treatment by the government? Let's
see the detail of the tax rulings that have been issued by Revenue to
these companies. We urgently need to bring transparency and
accountability to the system of secret sweetheart deals for
multinational giants.
“The facts are clear – there is
absolutely no justification for challenging this ruling and the
government must immediately rule out an appeal.
“The Irish people are owed €13 billion and the Irish government needs to act now to get it back.” ENDS