Ireland May End Apple Tax Residency Loophole

Applelogo.pngIreland may shut down a tax loophole that allowed Apple to avoid declaring itself a tax resident in any country, reports The Street.

Apple, which currently has multiple subsidiary companies in the Irish city of Cork (Apple Operations International (AOI) Apple Operations Europe, Apple Operations, Apple Sales International and Apple Distribution International), is able to move money around the world without tax penalties because companies managed and controlled abroad but located in Ireland are not subjected to taxes.

"The second measure to be included in the Finance Bill is a change to our company residence rules aimed at eliminating mismatches – that can exist between tax treaty partners in certain circumstances – being used to allow companies to be ‘stateless’ in terms of their place of tax residence," the country said in a press release on Tuesday.

Subsidiary Apple Operations International has come under scrutiny in recent months for exploiting the loophole, as it has received billions of dollars between 2009 and 2011, but paid no taxes to any government. According to Apple’s own statement on the matter, AOI is incorporated in Ireland and therefore not a tax resident in the United States, but as it is controlled via the U.S., it does not meet the tax resident requirements in Ireland either.

According to Reuters, requiring companies to declare a tax residence will have little overall impact on Apple, as Ireland will allow companies to choose any country as a tax residence, including zero tax jurisdictions.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance declined to explain the change but denied it was due to U.S. pressure.

He added that companies could still nominate any country they liked as their tax residence, including zero tax jurisdictions such as Bermuda - a provision that tax advisers said was unusual internationally.

Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook testified in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee of Investigation following an accusation that the company avoided paying billions in federal taxes via “extensive tax-avoidance strategies.”

During the hearing, Tim Cook insisted that Apple pays all of its taxes. "We pay all of the taxes we owe, every single dollar," he said. After an extensive investigation of Apple’s finances and disclosure practices concluded in September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opted not to take any action against the company.

Apple has said that it plans to use its extensive foreign cash pile to invest abroad, creating additional Apple Stores overseas, expanding its iTunes Store, and boosting its international marketing.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

CplBadboy Avatar
153 months ago
A multi billion dollar corporation should be paying ****in tax. Simple as that. Sheeple should understand they are taking the piss and realise that. We all pay tax and we get ripped off so why shouldnt Apple pay there dues? I like Apple dont get me wrong but when Im paying considerable taxes on my wages and they arent then its time to act. Its a question of fairness. Dont let fanboyism get in the road of that.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Mercurian Avatar
153 months ago
Our nation is broke so "lets tax Apple Inc."
Should not all companies pay tax ?
Fact is Apple paid only 2% tax on 100million. The Irish corporate tax rate is 12.5% - lower than most of Europe. Apple, Amazon, Starbucks, Google and others have manipulated international laws to avoid tax. This needs to stop.

Ireland stepping up to the plate. What are the rest of the countries doing ?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NutsNGum Avatar
153 months ago
It could backfire. Ireland needs all the jobs it can get. While it might close some loopholes, they should be careful not to penalize companies with significant operations there.

It's not penalising to prevent large corporations taking the piss out of the tax system.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NOTmacbookpro13 Avatar
153 months ago
Our nation is broke so "lets tax Apple Inc."

Are you for real? We have the lowest corporation tax rate in Europe. Don't add to a discussion when you don't know anything about it.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rocco83 Avatar
153 months ago
I really wish Apple has to start paying all that tax to the US and even has to pay back taxes to the US so our government can use it for wage increases for president, congress, and house members as they are doing such a wonderful job.

What money is left over can go into a fund the government can use to help create more technology and software to intrude into its citizen's lives.

I know that money would be much better in the hands of our government rather than waiting in the banks of a company like Apple that may very well be used to pay for the R&D of a revolutionary new piece of tech.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bbeagle Avatar
153 months ago
And what about Google's avoidance of UK tax by "negotiating" advertising deals in the UK and "completing" the sales in Eire?
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Oracle, Adobe .... all use the same scheme in Ireland as Apple does to avoid taxes.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)