Google Ireland pays €272m in corporation tax

By Geoff Percival and Eamon Quinn

Google Ireland paid €272m in corporation tax last year, newly-filed accounts show.

Google’s tax charge represented an effective tax rate of just over 16%.

The tax payment of €272m compares with almost €171m it paid in the previous year.

The figures confirm that the internet giant is one of the largest payers of corporation tax in the State.

In 2018, the Government collected a total of €10.4bn in corporation tax receipts.

It has long been recognised a handful of foreign-owned multinationals pay a large chunk of overall corporate tax revenues.

The accounts show Google Ireland generated turnover of just over €38bn through the Irish company.

That was up from over €32bn in sales generated in the previous year.

The company posted pre-tax profits of €1.68bn in 2018, 26% higher than the previous year.

Google Ireland said the rise in turnover last year was primarily driven by a rise in advertising revenues.

Administrative costs rose from €21.9bn to €25.1bn due to an increase in employee numbers to support the growth of the business, a rise in sales and marketing activity and an increase in royalty payments.

Google Ireland employed 3,765 people at the end of last year, it said. Staff costs of €543.7m compared with €470.3m a year earlier.

In terms of the risks it faces, Google said:

The company’s intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of its products, services and brand.

It added: “Privacy concerns relating to the company’s technology could damage its reputation and deter current and potential users or customers from using its products and services.”