As Apple takes fire for its low international tax rates, thanks to housing its corporate subsidies in Ireland, the Irish government has spoken out on the subject, saying its laws are not to blame.
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore issued a statement to broadcaster RTE on Tuesday, defending his country from accusations that it has functioned as a tax haven for Apple. The Irish government is not responsible if Apple’s tax rate is too low, he said, according to Reuters.
“They are issues that arise from the taxation systems in other jurisdictions, and that is an issue that has to be addressed first of all in those jurisdictions,” Gilmore said.
Apple’s actions in Ireland have been scrutinized by a recent report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which says that Apple used subsidiaries to purposefully avoid paying billions of dollars in domestic taxes. The report alleges Apple has moved billions of dollars to affiliates such as Ireland based Apple Operations International, where the effective tax rate is less than 2%.
Apple argues that it pays the correct taxes on every product it sells in the U.S., and states that its foreign cash hoard, which now exceeds $100 billion, exists because the majority of its devices are sold outside of the U.S.
Apple is pushing legislators for tax reform that would allow the company to repatriate some of its international cash at a reasonable tax rate, saying the current tax code was written for the “industrial era,” and that it’s harmful to businesses in the today’s “digital economy.”
While Apple seems to be the main target of the Senate subcommittee, it must be noted that it is not the only company to set up operations in Ireland to take advantage of that country’s tax laws. Other major U.S. firms with a presence there include Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon.
