Apple tax billions begin to roll into State coffers

The first portion of a €14 billion Apple back-tax windfall has arrived in the Government's accounts, the Deparment of Finance has confirmed.

The department also revealed on Tuesday that the State collected 14.9 per cent more tax in the first 10 months of the year than in the same period in 2023.

The State is due to draw down the Apple back taxes from an escrow account over the next few months following a European Court of Justice ruling in September that its favourable tax treatment of the iPhone maker had been unlawful.

The Department of Finance said it collected €3.6 billion of corporate tax last month, some €3 billion of which was from the escrow account.

Stripping that out, corporate receipts were down on the €1.3 billion received in October 2023.

The State expects to bank €8 billion of the Apple back taxes this year, pushing its overall tax take 20 per cent higher year-on-year, and this year's budget surplus to 7.5 per cent of national income.

It comes as political parties make pledges over how to spend the billions ahead of a general election later this month.

On Monday, People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said the Apple back-taxes should be used to establish a State construction company.

He said the new body could access the land, finance and labour that is needed at scale to directly build “at least 35,000 social and affordable homes per year”.

Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has said it is imperative that the Apple money is not used on day-to-day spending or tax cuts, with the Government instead committing to investing in the “known challenges” of housing, energy, water and transport infrastructure.

In the Budget 2025 announcement, he said a framework for allocating the windfall receipts should be brought to the Government for approval in the first quarter of next year. – Additional reporting: PA, Reuters