Apple to Begin Reimbursing €13 Billion Irish Taxes in March

It was reported last month that Ireland is expecting to collect €13 billion in back taxes from Apple starting in early 2018 and now, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been told by the Department of Finance that the collection will begin in March and continue through to September (via RTE). The funds will be held in an escrow account which will be in place by the end of March.

Secretary General Derek Moran has said in a letter to the Committee that given the scale “and the bespoke nature of the establishment of the recovery process at this stage”, it is not possible to provide a definite date for the completion of the collection of the alleged aid. 

“However, identification of the escrow agent/custodian by the end of March 2018 will then allow for a payment into the escrow fund account, with payments continuing through the course of April, May and June and up to the end of September 2018”.

Eurostat, the statistical office for the EU, has also confirmed to the PAC that because the fund is in dispute, it will not be included in figures for Ireland’s national debt or income.

With than a year after the European Commission’s order, Dublin’s slow pace in recovering the money has landed it in court. While Ireland is already appealing that decision, it must still collect the money and place it in an escrow account until the legal process is completed. 

And even though Apple has agreed to put the money into the escrow account, since escrow funds aren’t useful as immediate financial products, the tech giant believes it will get that money back eventually after a court ruling.