Starbucks pays €5.7m in royalties but only €35k in Irish taxes since 2005

Coffee-shop chain Starbucks has only paid €35,000 in taxes in Ireland since 2005, while paying €5.7m in royalty and licensing fees to its parent company, accounts filed by the US coffee chain’s wholly-owned Irish subsidiary Ritea Ltd show.

Accounts filed by Ritea — owned by Dutch-based Starbucks Coffee Emea — record a loss every year it has been in operation in Ireland except for 2011, when the company recorded a €524,944 profit on which €34,980 in tax was paid.

However, over the same period, the company paid millions in royalties and licensing fees.