The Irish government on Monday reached an agreement with multinational technology firm Apple to start collecting €13 billion (Rs 99,309 crore) owed by the company, AFP reported.
Ireland, however, does not wish to collect the taxes. The country has been viewed as a “low tax entryway” for large companies and collecting the taxes from Google could dent its image with multinational firms, according to AFP.
Monday’s deal is based on a 2016 European Commission ruling, which said that Apple must pay the amount as taxes due to Ireland. The order stated that tax benefits the technology company received from Ireland were illegal under European Union rules, as they allowed Apple to pay substantially lower tax than other businesses.
The Belgian government had in October referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice for failing to collect the taxes from Apple.
The Irish government will put the amount received in a blocked bank account, while waiting for the outcome of its own appeal to the European Commission against the tax collection.
“We have now reached an agreement with Apple in relation to the principles and operation of the escrow fund,” Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in Brussels. “We expect the money will begin to be transmitted into the account from Apple across the first quarter of next year.”
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