Apple’s Irish units paid no tax on $100bn

Two Irish subsidiaries of one of the world’s richest companies, Apple, paid almost no tax on reported earnings of more than $100bn (€77.6bn) over four years, two US senators claimed last night.

Senators Carl Levin and John McCain made a series of revelations about Ireland and its use by the multinational giant Apple to avoid paying tax on billions of dollars of revenue.

It comes ahead of a US senate hearing today on Apple’s tax activities and its relationship with Ireland going back three decades.