Apple pays €1.5bn of tax bill... as Google buys site for €300m

APPLE has paid €1.5billion into an escrow account set up by the Government to hold €13billion in disputed taxes, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said.

The European Commission ordered Apple in August 2016 to pay the taxes it ruled it had received as illegal state aid. This was part of its wider drive against what it says are sweetheart tax deals usually used by smaller states in the EU to lure multinational companies and their jobs and investment.

‘This is the first of a series of payments with the expectation that the remaining tranches (amounting to €13billion) will flow into the fund during 2018,’ Mr Donohoe said.

‘There will be no further official comment on collection of the alleged state aid until the full recovery has been effected,’ he added.

Both Apple and the Government are appealing the ruling, saying the iPhone maker’s tax treatment was in line with Irish and EU law.

Last October, the Commission said it was taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice over delays in recovering the money that was due to be recovered in January 2017, four months on from the initial ruling in August 2016.

Meanwhile, tech giant Google completed a €300million deal to buy Dublin’s historic Bolands Quay site as new office space yesterday. As part of the sale, the new office blocks will include nearly 50 apartments to make sure staff will have somewhere to live.

Google Ireland chief Fionnuala Meehan said: ‘With this investment, Google is ensuring we have the space to continue to grow our Europe, Middle East and Africa HQ operations into the future.’ The expansion will be enough space for an extra 6,000 staff at maximum capacity.

The company has invested more than €1billion in Ireland in the past 15 years, and last week announced a €150million extension to its data storage centre near Baldonnel, west Dublin.