Loophole helps to keep profits

Apple’s ability to shelter billions of dollars of income from tax has hinged on an unusual loophole in the Irish tax code that helps the country compete with other countries for investment and jobs.

A US Senate investigation revealed that Apple, maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, had channelled profits into Irish subsidiaries that had “no declared tax residency anywhere in the world”.

Over the past three years, it paid a tax rate of 2% on $74bn in (€57bn) overseas income, its annual reports show.