Money owed from Apple tax case drives €3.2bn Exchequer surplus

Exchequer results show total tax revenue generated in February stood at €5.1bn bringing the total so far this year to €15.2bn

If money from the Apple ruling was excluded, the Exchequer would have recorded a surplus of €200m during the first two months of the year.

Money owed to Ireland as a result of the Apple tax case last year is continuing to filter into the Exchequer leading to a surplus of €3.2bn during the first two months of the year, new figures show.

This is a significant increase from the €100m deficit recorded during the same period last year, and if the receipts arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling of September 10 against Apple last year were excluded, the Exchequer would have recorded a surplus of just €200m.

The Apple tax case arose in 2016 after the EU Commission found that the tech giant received illegal state aid from Ireland over a more than ten-year period between 2003 and 2014 with it declaring the iPhone-maker owed Ireland money in back taxes.

It was appealed to the EU’s General Court which ruled that the European Commission “did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard” and that Apple had received tax advantages from Ireland, ruling in favour of the tech giant.

Apple, with the support of the Irish Government, appealed all the way to Europe’s highest court. However, the court ruled against the company and said it had to pay Ireland the €13bn in tax.

According to the Exchequer results, total tax revenue generated in February stood at €5.1bn bringing the total so far this year to €15.2bn.

Income taxes during February accounted for €2.7bn — up 9.4% year-on-year — while €1bn was collected in corporation tax receipts.

Gross Exchequer revenue so far this year stood at €21.0bn, an increase of €5.1bn year-on-year.

Non-tax revenue and capital resources for the year stood at €3bn up by €1.8 billion compared to last year largely driven by transfers to the Exchequer arising from the CJEU ruling.

Total expenditure so far this year totalled €17.8bn. Of this, gross voted expenditure stood at €16.7bn, which was €1.7bn ahead of the same period last year.

Exchequer debt service expenditure has cost €300m.