THE FUND CONTAINING money which the European Commission has said US tech giant Apple must pay Ireland in back tax lost €259 million in value last year, according to a new report from the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The report, published today, shows that the Apple escrow fund’s assets reduced from €13.633 billion in 2021 to €13.374 last year. 

The loss was attributed to a significant increase in yields across global fixed income markets and fund operating expenses. 

In 2014, following a two-year investigation, the European Commission ruled that two tax rulings issued by Ireland to Apple in 1991 and 2007 “substantially and artificially lowered” the tax paid by Apple to the State. 

The Commission ordered Ireland to recover the tax plus interest related to a ten-year period from 2003 up to 2014. This was totalled at €14.3 billion.

Both the Irish Government and Apple separately appealed the Commission’s decision, but also agreed to the recovered amounts being held in an escrow fund pending
completion of the legal process.

The multi-billion-euro fund is held under the terms of a formal agreement between the Minister for Finance and Apple pending the final outcome of legal challenges to the findings of a State aid investigation undertaken by the European Commission.

Apple transferred €14.3 billion into the escrow account in 2018.

The report states that of the fund’s assets, 82% was invested in financial assets while 18% was held in cash and cash equivalents. 

“This represents a significant change from the end of 2021, when the total assets were divided between 96% financial assets and 4% in cash and cash equivalents,” it states.

The escrow fund incurred operating costs of €6 million last year, the same amount incurred in 2021.

The report states that these primarily relate to investment managers’ fees and escrow agent/custodian’s fees.