Noonan: Appeal of €13bn Apple tax ruling will likely take four years 'or more'

THE GOVERNMENT’S APPEAL of the European Commission’s ruling on Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland is likely to take about four years “or more”.

That is according to Finance Minister Michael Noonan, who also said that the government has received “very strong” advice indicating that it will be successful in its appeal.

Speaking on Bloomberg television today he said: “We think that the decision made by the Competition Commission was the wrong decision (and) was based on very fragile legal principles.

“We have very strong grounds for appeal and we have very strong legal advice that we’ll win the appeal.

“There are two phases to the appeal, it goes to the ordinary European court first and then there’s an appeal to the European Court of Justice. It’ll probably take four years, maybe more.”

Several weeks ago the European Commission ruled that Ireland gave Apple illegal state aid worth up to €13 billion over a period of more than a decade.

The government has been ordered to recover the funds – plus interest – from the Californian firm.

Tax avoidance

Asked on Bloomberg television if Dublin is a “nexus of financial engineering”, Noonan said: “Financial engineering, or tax avoidance, to give it its blunt name, is generated by very clever tax lawyers finding mismatches between tax laws in two jurisdictions.

“It’s international so the solutions have to be international as well,” he said.

“We’ve been mending our law since 2013 and all the kinds of stuff that is recited against Ireland now is no longer on our statute books. The ‘Double Irish’ and all these things are a matter of history, they’re legacy issues.”

Finance Minister Michael Noonan

Regarding Apple, Noonan pointed out that US companies do not pay US taxes on foreign earnings until they are repatriated back to the US.

“It’s not that Apple and other companies don’t have a tax liability, it’s that they don’t have to pay it until they repatriate so it’s not a matter for Irish law it’s a matter for US law.”

Appeal

Asked how US tax laws could be amended Noonan said that the US has been involved in several inter-company initiatives to target tax avoidance, such as the OECD’s ‘base erosion and profit shifting’ initiative which aims to tackle aggressive tax planning.

“If the American authorities continue to work with the OECD to find international solutions to what are international problems that would be the best course forward,” he said.

The government, which recently won a Dáil motion to appeal the EU’s ruling, has consistently claimed it did not do any deal with Apple and that the ruling, if enforced, would damage the country’s reputation.

Several other EU countries, including Spain, Austria and Italy, have signalled that they intent to ask for a share of the €13 billion Apple has been ordered to pay.

Earlier this week billionaire Irish businessman Denis O’Brien claimed that EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager “picked on” Apple following its investigation into the company’s affairs in Ireland.