Ireland will lose Apple tax case, warns expert

Ireland is set to lose the Apple tax case brought by the European Commission that alleges the State cut some sort of sweetheart deal with the tech giant, a leading expert has warned.

Seamus Coffey, an economist at University College Cork who has written reports for the Department of Finance, said the judgment will be tightly worded and that Ireland will not be expected to collect anywhere near the €8bn in back taxes from Apple that some analysts have suggested.

Speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, of which he is a member, Mr Coffey said the tax bill will likely be small, possibly only as much as €150m. It will relate solely to taxes due in Ireland over the last decade, he said.