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The
European Union last year accused Ireland of swerving
international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth
tens of billions of dollars from revenue collectors in return
for maintaining jobs.
A decision on whether the tax deal with Apple constituted unfair
state aid is due after Christmas, Finance Minister Michael
Noonan told journalists on Wednesday.
The decision could force Apple to pay substantial back taxes.
Ireland's main foreign investment agency, the IDA, said Apple
was to add 1,000 jobs to its office in Cork by mid-2017 from
5,000 at present. It said the company had also added 1,000 jobs
in the past year.
Noonan said the decision showed that the controversy around
Apple's tax deal "hasn't affected their enthusiasm for Ireland".
"I think they are bringing a lot of intellectual property
onshore too, but that's less clear," he said.
Apple this year announced the construction of a new
850-million-euro data center.
The European Commission has already ordered Dutch authorities to
recover up to 30 million euros ($32.23 million)from U.S. coffee
chain Starbucks and Luxembourg to do the same with Fiat Chrysler
for their tax deals.
Rulings on Apple and Amazon's tax arrangement with Luxembourg
authorities are still pending.
Apple paid an average tax rate of just 2.5 percent on around
$109 billion of non-U.S. profits in the five years to 2014, a
fraction of Ireland's 12.5 percent tax rate.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by Jason Neely)
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