Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 25 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 is the section under which this ruling with Apple was arrived at by the Irish tax authorities at the time. The Commissioner keeps saying that it is about state aid, but this particular section was available to be availed of by any multinational company. Under that particular section, any company is required to come up with a methodology on allocation of profits. It must seek a Revenue ruling. Apple sought a Revenue ruling on two occasions, in 1991 and 2007. The Commissioner agrees that the Irish tax authorities are effectively sovereign over tax policy.

It was open to any company to apply for the provisions of this section. How can the Commissioner argue that there was selectivity? Does the Commissioner accept that both Apple companies, Apple Operations Europe and Apple Sales International, were non-resident for tax purposes in Ireland under Irish law?