Written answers

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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67. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the European Commission’s decision to appeal the ruling of the EU General Court of the European Union on Ireland and tax paid by an organisation (details supplied) to the European Court of Justice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32046/20]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Commission has lodged an appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Apple State aid case. An appeal to the CJEU must be on a point, or points, of law. The party appealing may challenge the General Court of the European Union’s (GCEU) interpretation of the State aid rules and the application of them to the case, but not the facts of the case, as established by the GCEU.

The facts of the case, as established by the GCEU, demonstrate that no State aid was given and that the Irish branches of the relevant Apple companies paid the full amount of tax due in accordance with the law. The Government believes that the decision of the GCEU is the correct one.

Ireland has received the Commission’s appeal and the Government is now consulting with its legal advisors on how to respond to this appeal. Ireland has 2 months and 10 days to respond; therefore, the deadline for responding is mid-December. The appeal could take up to 2 years.

In relation to the tax paid by the company, I assume the Deputy is referring to the alleged State aid that has been recovered as part of the ongoing Apple State aid case and I will respond to the Deputy’s question on that basis. The total amount of alleged State aid recovered was circa €14.3 billion (which is the principal and relevant EU interest). These sums have been placed into an Escrow Fund with the proceeds to be released only when there has been a final determination of the case by the European Courts.

The financial statements set out that the net assets of the Escrow Fund as at 31st December 2019 totalled €14,020 million. All income, expenses, gains, and losses accrue to the Fund. The decline in value is primarily due to a third country adjustment (i.e. where the company is required to pay more tax in another jurisdiction in respect of the same profits for this period) and a reflection of the current negative interest rate environment and negative yields on highly rated euro-sovereign / quasi-sovereign bonds together with fund operating expenses.

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