Ireland plans what to buy first with Apple's $14 billion tax windfall
by William Gallagher · AppleInsiderNow that the EU's ruling on Apple's back taxes in Ireland is final, the country's government says the $14 billion could be "transformational."
For a decade, Ireland has sided with Apple against the European Union and worked with it to protest that no laws or regulations were broken. Now that the EU has finally said tough, Apple has to pay up, Ireland is thinking well, what's done is done, and is rubbing its hands.
Ireland has good reason to be happy with this result, even if it disagreed with it. For alongside the $14 billion from Apple, the country already had a budget surplus of around $9.2 billion.
According to CNBC, Irish Finance Minister Jack discussed the surplus and Apple's taxes in a pre-election budget speech. Chambers cautioned that Ireland needed to choose carefully how to use the money, but said that it had "the capacity to be transformational."
"It is this government's view that we should utilize these revenues to address the known challenges that we face in housing, energy, water and transport infrastructure," said Chambers. "[It is] imperative [not to use it] for day-to-day expenditure or to narrow the tax base."
The country could, though, consider putting a few Euros into a farewell party EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager. At the start of her role with the EU, it was Vestager who pushed for Apple's tax deal to be changed, and now she's succeeded just as she is about to leave the job.
8 Comments
TheSparkle 22 comments · 2 Years
About 3 hours ago
The EU successfully gets Apple to fund the…er…update to the nation. Absolute monsters.
blastdoor 3521 comments · 15 Years
About 2 hours ago
So far the 21st Century is turning out to be the best by far in the history of Ireland. This is another page in that book. I say good for them! All the other centuries were pretty harsh on the Emerald Isle. They deserve a break.
123Go 21 comments · 4 Years
About 2 hours ago
The larger mega corportations play the system so it is good to see one of these, Apple, havng to pay their fare share of tax.
apple4thewin 225 comments · 3 Years
About 1 hour ago
Still disappointed that Apple couldn’t invest it into themselves
iloveapplegear 118 comments · 11 Years
About 58 minutes ago
The EU will now demand a higher (much higher) payment from Eire