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TECH GIANT APPLE has reportedly completed a merger of its Luxembourg-based company with Apple Distribution International, which is located in Cork.
The move will result in a lot of operations overseen by the Luxembourg division of Apple shifted to its Cork headquarters, including the notable iTunes music service.
Earlier this year, Apple was granted planning permission to build on at its site in Hollyhill, Cork and announced plans to hire up to 1,000 more staff for its Irish operation.
A statement sent to developers by Apple said that the company’s Cork offices will soon be in charge of iTunes and the relocation of services will be complete in early 2017. The statement said:
Apple has been operating in Ireland since 1980 and now employs nearly 6,000 people.
As we continue to expand our operations in Cork, we are moving our iTunes business there and will support content stores for more than 100 countries from our campus at Hollyhill.
The iTunes branch of Apple has been managed by its Luxembourg office since 2004, however, in recent months the office has closed.
Tax fallout
Last month, the European Commission ordered the Irish government to recover illegal state aid given to Apple. It is claimed that Ireland gave the tech company €13 billion over the span of a decade.
It was claimed that Ireland allowed the company to pay a tax rate of only 1% on its European profits that were routed through its Irish operation in 2003, with that figure dropping as low as 0.005% by 2014.
In 2011, the Cork-based Apple Sales International recorded a profit of €16 billion. Less than €50 million from this was allocated to the Irish branch, with the remainder assigned to the head office, which paid zero taxes.
The Irish government has decided to appeal the decision handed down by the European Commission.
Written by Killian Woods and posted on Fora.ie
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It’s amazing there is no Apple shop in IRELAND
They’d have to pay tax then.
@Martin Sinnott: They have a partnership with Compub their premium reseller who basically have their stores laid out like apple stores.
@Eoghan: Its not an Apple Store tho…..
Great news for Cork
Yippee…more jobs for Cork! :)
It seems the journal doubled down on double down headlines!
Go Cork!
And yet still no Apple Store in republic.
“Double down”?! Looks like some of the journalists have been watching some US news stations. 2nd headline in space of a few hours
Couldn’t agree more. Terrible journalism and editing ….
Great news for Cork. And more tax not to claim for revenue
Great news for Cork. The city needs to become careful not be too dependent on one company. Look at Nokia, totally dominant 15 years ago where are they now.
Since when is Cork dependent on Apple alone, are you saying everyone in Cork happens to work in Apple.
Cork has been their Europe HQ since 1981 though.
Moving from Luxembourg,a confirmed tax haven..to Ireland..a yet to be confirmed tax haven..either a massive vote of confidence..or are Luxembourg about to tighten up?
It’s probably a kick in the teeth to Junker who’s is leading the charge against apple,The duplicity of the man who made several sweetheart deals with corporations when he was president of Luxembourg.
John Spillane for Worldwide Christmas No 1.Come on Apple,ye owe us a favour.
And today Journal.ie comes to you with the words “double down” …!!! Wtf does it even mean and why does it appear in two headlines at the same time.. ???
Ahh the verb to double down? Common parlance now on ye olde Journal.
Guessing it’s a gambling term. #clueless
Double down?
Great story…. great for Ireland
If you buy an iPhone in the UK the sale is recorded in Ireland ? Makes perfect sense lol
Let’s be real. we sold our fisheries, we lost our resources. the only industry we have now is IT. we need to protect it because it serves a lot of jobs which pays a lot of tax in our country that serves those less well off. It’s as complex or simple as that. We fecked our own country in the Haughey and beyond times.
Give them an inch and look what they do… Guess we now know who pulls the strings.
small consolation since this looks like PR exercise around the 13bn owed to revenue
@Living The Laws: listen, we are not going to win that lottery. But what we do have is a lot of jobs. folks living in Leixlip, Lucan, Blanchardstown, Dundalk, Galway, Dublin….who rely on paying their bills through jobs in IT. take that away and by God we will have far more folks on the streets. Let’s be real here. We lost our resources a long time ago through greed and fraud and whatever else you want to call it. All we have left is IT and a bit of tourism.
have your say