No other country has submitted a claim to part of the €13 billion Apple tax bill since the EU’s highest court recently ruled the tech giant had to pay over the large sum in back taxes to Ireland.
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said he was not aware of any contact from other countries seeking to lay claim to part of the giant tax bill.
Last month the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ended a years long legal saga, siding with the European Commission by ruling that Apple did owe Ireland the multibillion euro sum.
The figure amounted to the tax the multinational previously had not paid on profits, due to a favourable tax arrangement that existed for its Irish subsidiaries over several years.
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Some €455 million of the €13 billion was set aside between 2019 and 2021 to be paid to unnamed countries that had a tax claim on the same profits, leading to speculation more countries might come forward following the final ECJ judgment.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Chambers said he was not aware of “any further third country adjustment” being made to the tax windfall due to be paid to Ireland.
[ Plans for ‘transformational’ Apple tax money to be announced in early 2025Opens in new window ]
Any application by another country claiming it was owed some of the taxes from the Apple profits would be submitted as part of a “technical process”, he said.
“The application would be made via the company by another jurisdiction, so it’s very much grounded in rules and based on objective criteria, rather than any subjective basis of assessment being made by Ireland,” he said.
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“I’m not aware of any further third country adjustment or contact on third country adjustment that have been made since we received the Apple judgment,” he said.
The sum of €13 billion plus interest had been held in an escrow account while Apple and Ireland appealed the European Commission’s initial decision that the previous tax arrangement amounted to illegal state aid.
Following the ECJ ruling some €8 billion is to be paid to Ireland this year and a further €6 billion next year, Mr Chambers said.
Separately, the Minister said he rejected the suggestion the recent budget had been a “giveaway” in advance of a coming general election.
“Many of the Opposition parties whom have criticised the Irish Government put forward spending proposals far in excess of what we outlined in Budget 2025,” he said.
Mr Chambers said there was still work to do “driving forward a number of pieces of legislation” before the end of the Government’s term in the spring.
He said he was not interested in speculation about when the general election “may or may not take place”. He was speaking in Luxembourg on his way into a meeting of euro zone finance ministers.
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