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#Aplica decisió de #GCEU per a un govern irlandès

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The news that the General Court of the European Union (GCEU) has let Ireland off the hook for not forcing computer giant Apple to pay €13 billion in outstanding taxes, is a major relief for the Irish government. Com Ken Murray informa de Dublín, the decision, bar a successful appeal, is likely to make Ireland a magnet for major multi-national corporations.

The decision on 15 July by the General Court of the European Union to rule against an EU Commission request to recover €13bn in outstanding taxes is a major blow to Brussels bureaucrats who are keen to have a level playing field across Europe when it comes to taxation on foreign corporations.

Not surprisingly, the GCEU decision was greeted with smiles in Dublin where the Finance Minister Pascal Donohue, who was recently elected chairman of the Eurogroup of ministers, said the decision clearly vindicated Ireland’s independent taxation regime: "aquest long-running court battle has caused reputational difficulty but the ruling that Ireland did not give Apple illegal state aid will lead many to reassess their view of our corporation tax regime and of the statements that have been made about it.

"For the moment Ireland is off the hook and Apple Corporation can continue to generate millions of euro in revenue from its lucrative operation in the ‘Emerald Isle.”

The case arose from the European Commission's 2016 instruction to Ireland to recover €13.1bn in unpaid taxes from Apple for the period between 2003 and 2014, which includes interest in alleged unpaid taxes and had been stored away in an escrow or independent account for the past two years after the Commission ruled that the altering of tax rates to benefit Apple amounted to state aid which is prohibited.

If the Ireland and Apple case was defeated, the financial hit and reputational damage could have been detrimental for the Irish economy.

With a corporation tax rate of 12.5%, the second lowest in the EU after Hungary on 9%, the English-speaking highly educated Irish who use the Euro currency, have been hugely successful in attracting major US corporations to set up their European HQs in Ireland.

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Companies like Microsoft, Apple, Linkedin, eBay, Paypal, Facebook, Twitter, Coca-Cola etc who have significant operations in Ireland employing close on 200,000 staff, watched the outcome of this case very closely.

A ruling against Apple and Ireland could have forced the Irish Government to alter its tax arrangements to bring it more in to line with mainland EU states which in turn could discourage future foreign direct investment.

Speaking after the ruling the Irish Department of Finance was adamant that its arrangement with Apple was entirely within the law. "Ireland has always been clear that there was no special treatment provided to the two Apple companies - ASI and AOE. The correct amount of Irish tax was charged... in line with normal Irish taxation rules," it said in a statement.

"Ireland appealed the Commission decision on the basis that Ireland granted no state aid and the decision today from the court supports that view."

Apple said it was pleased that the court has annulled the commission's case.

"This case was not about how much tax we pay, but where we are required to pay it," it said in a statement.

Not everybody in Ireland was happy with the ruling. Pearse Doherty, Finance spokesperson for Sinn Fein, told RTE Radio that the ruling meant Apple could make millions and pay relatively nothing to the Irish economy.

“The [specific] Apple taxation rate in Ireland of 0.005% means that for every €1 million profit that they made, the law in Ireland allowed them to pay €50 of tax.”

Unless a future appeal by the EU Commission is successful, Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority is likely to take full advantage of the Apple ruling to lure other foreign investors in to the Country.While in theory, that will bring many benefits to Ireland, other EU states may have to be more creative with their finances to attract foreign investors who will be much sought after in the years ahead now that unemployment looks set to soar in the post COVID-19 period.

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