Unexpectedly high

Apple gives Ireland a budget surplus

Apple has given Ireland an unexpectedly high budget surplus last year thanks to an additional tax payment in the billions. As announced by the Ministry of Finance on Monday, this is largely due to an additional tax payment of almost eleven billion euros from the iPhone manufacturer. 

This is part of a total sum of 14 billion euros that Apple has to pay to the government in Dublin following an EU ruling. Originally, the EU country had expected to receive eight billion euros in back taxes this year. Without the Apple money, corporation tax revenue of around 28 billion euros was below the 29.5 billion euros forecast by the Ministry of Finance in October.

Overall, corporate tax revenue in 2024 rose by 63.9% year-on-year to 39.1 billion euros. The majority of this revenue in Ireland comes from US companies. They have increased almost sevenfold over the past decade, regardless of the Apple decision. This has given the island the healthiest public finances in Europe. As a result, the government was able to increase total spending last year by nine billion euros - 9.5 percent - compared to the previous year.